Sex and Politics
by Black Nation
Summary: When a politically-motivated plot to assassinate Rufus Shinra unravels lots of hot sex results. Cid/Vincent, Reno/Vincent, Rufus/Tseng, Reno/Rufus, Reno/Rude, Cid/Rufus, Tifa/Elena
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters and no profit is made from their use.

PLOT SUMMARY: When a politically-motivated plot to assassinate Rufus Shinra unravels lots of hot sex results.

WARNINGS: M/M, F/F, Anal, Manual, mild BDSM, references to cannibalism, shooting, alcohol, bad language (thanks, Cid!)

PAIRINGS: Cid/Vincent, Reno/Vincent, Rufus/Tseng, Reno/Rufus, Reno/Rude, Cid/Rufus, Tifa/Elena

**FEEDBACK: Feedback is absolutely welcomed and MUCH appreciated! **

About the AUTHOR and editor: Greetings, citizens of FFVII fandom! We are your garden variety perverted grad students who like telling dirty stories about our favorite FFII Boys and Girls!

**Sex and Politics**

**PROLOGUE **

On most days Vincent liked to watch people moving about their business on the streets below because it brought him hope that a prosperous and stable future was finally coming, but today he wasn't interested in them. He was interested in _him. _

Vincent discretely shadowed the object of his interest for days now, following on top of buildings and always out of sight. He was a Turk once, he understood how Turks thought and acted, and he was able to follow Rufus Shinra wherever he went without being seen by his bodyguards. Now he intently watched the youthful figure that stood gazing out the wall-size window of his secret office, his hand busy inside his cream trousers. Thinking that nobody was watching, Rufus Shinra was smiling. _Horny young fool. _Vincent watched closely, trying to ignore the fleeting satisfaction at catching the secretive young man in such a private moment. _Does he not realize that someone can shoot him when he exposes himself like that? Some men never learn. _Vincent caught himself on that thought. That wasn't what he really wanted to believe.

Months ago, when Kadaj and his demented brothers blew up the entire city center of Edge in search of Jenova, Vincent and his AVALANCH comrades realized that they've put down their swords and guns too early. The world was still a volatile place, but the once omnipresent Shinra Inc. was a dying giant the rebel forces patiently awaited the giant's last breath. But they badly underestimated Rufus Shinra.

Barely into his manhood, Rufus was irresistibly handsome and charismatic. And he hated being broke. Within months he had gathered the pieces of his company into a coherently functioning whole and has once again set out to restore his company's world dominance. But what kind of a leader would Rufus become? Was he still the cruel and cold child of privilege who ordered public executions and cut funding to orphanages because he hated to waste money on the common folk?

Vincent watched the young President for weeks now, hoping to determine if Rufus had learned his lessons. What he saw thus far made Vincent both hopeful and worried. After nearly dying from Geostigma Rufus had a genuine change of heart about his company's role in caring for the planet and its people. But aside from his newly awakened conscience, Rufus was still himself – arrogant, power-hungry, and vain.

In particular Vincent hated Rufus's love affair with the military. The generals shamelessly courted the young President and in exchange for their adoration and loyalty Rufus flooded the military with all the money it asked for. Shinra was turning into a military government and Vincent hated it, knowing full well that further conflict between AVALANCH and Shinra was inevitable.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Vincent leaped off the platform and made his way to the streets below. He turned the corner into a cluttered alleyway and dove into an obscured entrance to a tattered warehouse.

The spacious but poorly lit main room was cluttered with maps, mechanical parts, and manuals. At the center stood a crude dinner table, upon which a wide area map was spread. Looking at the said map was a tall tan-skinned man with menacing black tattoos coiling around his muscular back and neck. His jet black hair was trimmed short and sleeked back with sweat and grease. He wore goggles on his forehead and multiple knives around his belt. A brutal and intensely sexual man with enormous scarlet eyes and a mocking toothy smile. Sazar _Valdi, the former Shinra military major turned rebel commander._ Vincent wished he'd staid up at the tower a bit longer. They have met before and he intensely disliked the man. Valdi had a nasty habit to undress people with his eyes and Vincent felt the huge red irises caressing his crotch and thighs with no pretense of decency.

"Where've you been?" said Cid, who appeared out of the darkness and playfully pinched Vincent's side.

"Out," Vincent shrugged, chasing away the image of Rufus. Cid spun him around. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his lips were spread into an enormous grin. His spiked and messy dirty blond hair was covered in black dust. Vincent smiled back. Cid was one of those men who grew more handsome and playful with age.

"I fixed her, sport," he teased Vincent's lips with his coarse fingers, "my babes is feelin' good and will fly like a damned butterfly! We're gonna be havin' sex in the air tonight!" He petted Vincent's arm and guided him to the table. "Vince, this is-"

"Sazar Valdi," Vincent could barely contain his disgust. "We had a chance to meet once before, thanks to Shinra."

"And thanks to Shinra we're in each other's company again," Sazar licked his lips and audibly cracked his muscled shoulders. _He can make stretching look like a vulgar sexual act. I hate this guy!_

"As I was saying, Cid… All I need is one clean shot. I know precisely where his office is located downtown, and our boy likes sunlight. He'll come to the window and bam!" Sazar pretended to fire a pistol. "Once I'm sure he's dead, the real action'll begin. I'll need a reliable pilot and quick crew to help me and my men take out Shinra's tail-followers. There's a whole shitload of nasty characters swarming around the President and if we take him out, they gotta go too-"

"You plan to kill all the Shinra's top executives? You out of your damn mind!" Vincent said angrily. He pushed Cid's caressing arm away and strode toward the man. "Sounds like a murder fantasy of an angry man with some personal scores to settle," he said contemptuously. Vincent intently examined Sazar for a long moment and then he shook his mane of unkept black hair in disapproval. The rebel commander didn't back down. He took a step forward until their bodies touched and he could feel Vincent's calm breathing on his face. Then he leaned in even closer, almost to the point where his lips touched Vincent's ear.

"Rufus Shinra is an intriguing man to watch," he whispered. "Very beautiful, but rotten at the core. I watch him too. I listen, also. And so should you. This morning he was all smiles, showing love to the greedy investors. He promised them reactors, twice as many, with four times the output. And then he gave the army a blank check so they can build more cannons, more fortresses, whatever they please. And the best part, he issued orders to institute martial law. 

Shinra army will police the streets now and their orders are to capture and kill every rebel and everyone suspected of aiding the resistance."

"What's your point?" Vincent hissed.

"Greed and money, that's what drives these aristocratic rats! Everything that was wrong with this world under Papa Shinra will get worse under his kid. Old man will be proud." Sazar chuckled, seeing Vincent's reaction. "Oh what, you haven't heard? Rumor has it the old bastard isn't dead at all."

"Get out of my face," Vincent angrily shoved the man away. "Damn lunatic."

"Think I'm joking?" the rebel smiled, "nobody knows when and where old man Shinra was buried. The only people who claim to have seen him dead aren't around to repeat their stories. And the gorgeous Mrs. Shinra, surely a slutty socialite with boobs and wallet of her size wouldn't just disappear from public view unless she had something to hide."

"That can't be true. She is probably dead." Vincent glared at Cid. "You know about this?"

"Maybe I heard a coupla pilots talking shit the other day," Cid shrugged, "that Rufus's old lady's breathing fresh air in the rural Wutai, but it's all the same for me. I've had enough of this fucking family. Under martial law I can't even fly my Shera without being shot down. Soldiers are roughing up the villagers left and right, looking for rebels. They shot a bunch of my buddies back at Rocket Town. I'm blasting the Shinra dynasty out of power. So you in, Vince?"

"I don't like this."

"Why in the hell is this so fucking difficult? I ain't feelin' the love!" Cid exploded, chewing and spitting out his cigarette and stomping out the ashes. "We made a commitment, my man, you and I, to protect our land. This isn't fucking rocket science! The kid and his ass-kissers gotta go!"

Cid grabbed Vincent's arm and dragged his lover into a side room. He slammed the door shut with his foot, forced Vincent against the wall spreading the men's legs with his knee, and leaned over him, examining him questioningly.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he demanded. "Everybody's on board with this, except you."

Vincent's brooding face remained expressionless. "Hey," Cid sighed in frustration, rubbing his exhausted face, "I ain't gettin' any younger Vince. Remember how we, you know, decided to, oh hell, how you say it, formalize our partnership? Rings and all that shit? Together till the end and all that good stuff? I suck at the romantic crap, but after my marriage with Shera went to hell I…" he hesitated, as though the words were painful to say, "I know what I want now. I love you and I want you, with me, always, and this is a big deal. Biggest in our lives, maybe. I need you with me on this one."

"Let's leave our marriage plans out of this," Vincent frowned, "I will say yes to nothing that even remotely involves that nut job Sazar Valdi. He is a self-righteous asshole who wants to use AVALANCH to settle personal scores and I do not for the life of me see how assassinating Rufus will accomplish anything good."

"So it's about that rich little scoundrel, I knew it!" Cid screamed, throwing his fresh cigarette onto the floor. He smacked the wall next to Vincent and walked away, waiving his hands and glaring madly. "You're fucking killing me, Vince! I thought you and I of all damn people had an understanding! How the fuck did Rufus Shinra ended up between us? I'm confused. Don't tell me you feel sorry for him!"

"I will never pull the trigger to kill him myself. Or help Sazar Valdi do it."

"Vincent!"

"I was Rufus's bodyguard back when I was junior Turk and he was an infant," Vincent continued. "I hated to be stuck babysitting a squirmy toddler. I wanted to blow things up, interrogate people, you know, standard issue tough Turk stuff. But he was so affectionate that he won me over. Compared to you and I Rufus is a damn kid with no decent role models to guide him on ethics. Give him time to get his shit together. When I was his age I wasn't the nicest man on the street and neither were you."

"True," Cid groaned and lit up another cigarette, "but neither one of us could issue orders to kill people. My girl Shera," he pulled out a tattered photo of his former engineer and ex-wife of two years, "she got shot a few days ago up at Rocket Town by some Shinra grunts looking for rebels. And for that Mr. Shinra's going down!"

He leaned in to kiss Vincent's lips, but changed his mind at the last moment and planted only a dry kiss on his lover's cheek. "I know this ain't about smart politics, it's about you getting all soft and uncertain on me Vince. Stinks awful lot like a betrayal. I can't fight alongside a man who can't be clear on where their loyalties are, and I sure as hell ain't gonna marry one. I'll let'ya brood on that one for a while."

Cid slowly backed away from Vincent, his eyes transient and uneasy, as though his heart regretted his words but his mind couldn't back down. He was deeply wounded by Shera's death. There was nothing Vincent could say to get through to his lover. He wished Cid would mourn in silence, or that he would yell, kick chairs, break and throw things, or get drunk and pass out. But Cid was determined to deal with his pain in the worst possible way - by blindly seeking revenge.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

At the first signs of dawn Tseng has already abandoned his immaculate bedroom. His shoes were shined, his suit was sharp and wrinkle-free, and his luxurious black hair was tied back in a formal manner.

"Well?" he asked into his earpiece as he adjusted his suit. "Is he still coming for the interview?"

"There's been a robbery, Sir. Some guys shot and killed him." _Yes. I love it when 'some guys' kill assholes who get in my way._

"Too bad," he replied calmly, "I will inform the President." He stopped to glance in the mirror before pulling open the bedroom door. _Ready to rule the world, _he smiled unnoticeably as he stepped out.

He silently saluted the stationary Shinra guards and they saluted back, as though the manor was his. _It may as well have been, I kept this sweet nest from being foreclosed on. _Tseng always returned to his own bedroom after satisfying Rufus's erotic urges in order to keep decorum, but he was well past being a simple bodyguard. Rufus made few decisions without Tseng's input, which he usually solicited during sex, and whenever duty called Tseng served as the unofficial Vice President of Shinra Inc.

Tseng made his way into the lavish study and made himself comfortable behind the mahogany desk. In front of him was a pile of manila folders, each one containing proposals for major projects and large funding requests. Tseng stared at the folders for a moment, sipping his coffee, and then he started to read. He quickly made decisions on what promising causes received Shinra's financial blessing and moved on to the accounting matters. _Don't know why Rufus hates this job. President of Shinra is the President of the World and ruling the world is a lot of fun._

Tseng was not an ambitious man in traditional sense of the word. He wanted to be the best at what he did, true, but he also believed in enjoying his work. He consistently refused promotions because his position as leader of the Turks brought him great satisfaction.

In particular, he had developed a deep affection for the man whose body he caressed at night and guarded with his life during the day. Tseng knew that the only way to protect Rufus Shinra from inevitable demise was to ensure that the world didn't see him for who he really was – an emotionally unstable and frustrated kid who bit off a lot more than he could chew when he took over as President of Shinra.

Presiding over such a giant company required education and experience of a seasoned executive and Rufus quickly found himself in over his head. There was a whole lot more to running Shinra Inc. than smiling at press conferences and giving speeches. Despite his intelligence Rufus still couldn't understand half the documents that ended up on his desk and his obvious incompetence in financial matters deeply wounded his ego. He was exhausted and depressed and he dealt with it the only way he knew how: he drank a lot and often.

Tseng reluctantly took over all of Rufus's decision-making duties that required financial savvy, thinking that this low point will finally force Rufus to seek a competent Vice President. In the meantime Tseng, who was well-educated in accounting and management matters, got to test out the power-sharing arrangement. He was addicted to power the moment he tasted it. It pleased him to no end that he, a bastard child from Wutai who didn't even have the right to inherit his father's scant fortune, could have so much power over the most powerful company in the world. After a his first day in office Tseng decided that he liked being the Vice President of Shinra and he had no intention of vacating the post.

"Tseng," the Turk looked up to find his superior standing before him in a black satin robe that hung open all the way to his naval. His nude muscular chest still bore the marks of Tseng's bites from the night before. Rufus shifted from one foot to another, deciding if he should go back to bed. "Did I have an appointment with some man this morning? Some promising VP candidate Reeve Tuesti wanted me to interview?"

"You did," Tseng said in his velvety voice with a mild Wutai accent, smiling at Rufus's endearing habit of flicking his hair. "I'm sorry, Sir, but your interviewee had an accident, unfortunately, and will not be joining us. He's dead, I'm afraid." Rufus immediately narrowed his sleepy ice-blue eyes at the Turk and slowly and deliberately nodded his head in understanding. Turks were an efficient and murderous lot and Tseng didn't become their leader by being a gentleman. _Good, he wants this job bad enough to kill for it. _

"I hope his _accident _wasn't messy," Rufus said sternly, arching his blond eyebrow.

"No Sir, some thugs robbed and shot him on the way here," Tseng's enormous black eyes were unreadable. "These are dangerous times."

"Indeed," Rufus yawned, satisfied with what he saw. "All the more reason to hire someone I trust to be my Vice President. Carry on."

"Yes, Sir." Tseng leaned back in the luxurious chair, mentally celebrating victory. "It's about time for a promotion."


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Reno smelled Rude's approach before the taller man turned the corner. Reno gasped, flushing from an overload of senses. Rude was pure testosterone. He was tall and muscular and stylish, and he always smelled like dark coffee. His deep voice gave Reno pleasure shivers on days when he wasn't so sexually inclined, but today Rude's casual "Hey, partner" nearly pushed Reno over the edge. He felt himself harden and the back of his neck begun to sweat.

"You…you mean-spirited fucker!" Reno hissed when Rude playfully blocked his path in a narrow corridor. "Those fucking tea flowers of yours, they're an aphrodisiac!" Rude gave Reno a small mysterious smile and said nothing.

"The whole week I can't brush my teeth without getting a boner! You better come over tonight and do something about it!"

"They're passion flowers," Rude smirked, "gift from my ma at the Costa." He smiled again, reaching out to pet Reno's shoulder.

"Touch me and you'll have to fuck me right here!" Reno glared at the larger man. "My crotch is on fire, my whole body feels like I'm going through fucking puberty! Shit, I'm in heat man, and it's _your _fault! This tea flower shit is crazy, who else did you peddle it to?"

"The most sexually frustrated folks on the planet, of course! Accounting, Finance, the President. Even Elena took a few."

"Oh no no no! You did not give this aphrodisiac shit to Rufus Shinra?!" Reno was horrified.

"Hey, the kid's all hormones and not enough action," Rude whispered into Reno's ear in a sexy rasping voice, "I'm his doc and I say it's unhealthy that he only bends Tseng over once a month." He winked, highly amused, and begun to walk away.

"Reno," Tseng called from his office. "I have business for you. Get in here."

"Just keep it in your pants, partner," Rude called after Reno, "don't go around fucking your bosses."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Tseng narrowed his eyes at Rude and motioned for him to get going. "Reno, the President has asked for you. It's about the rebels. He wants you, right now."

Tseng had a way of phrasing words that could be interpreted in dirty ways. Reno nodded, edging away from his supervisor whose gentlemanly sex appeal was driving him dangerously near attempted rape. He didn't even hear what Tseng was saying. One look at the man's moving lips and his brain short-circuited again.

"By the way, there's a company policy against inter-office sexual liaisons," Tseng added, shutting the door behind Reno. _Hypocrite_, Reno rolled his eyes, _like the entire company doesn't know about your own bed aerobics with Shinra_.

**PRESIDENT'S AFTERNOON**

Rufus Shinra was preoccupied with sex. Two days ago he complained of sleeplessness and Rude, his loyal medic, had brought him a large cup of lukewarm tea with a spectacular flower inside. Rufus hadn't had any sleep since then.

He spent two nights resisting the urge to masturbate, hoping that his usual self-restraint will clear his brain by morning, but nature was not to be denied. He drank, exercised, and took every medication in his cabinet, but the maddening desire didn't diminish. He vegetated through the morning meeting and gratefully removed himself from the public eyes to the privacy of his 

office, where he could dwell on the intricacies of orgasm as he pleasured himself until his fingers grew numb.

Rufus avoided sex the way he avoided greasy foods. Sex meant losing control and that he could not tolerate. Once in a while he and Tseng engaged in a particularly professional form of fucking, which was so low-key that they often talked business and took phone calls while thus engaged. Extreme, uncontrollable, and persistent desire was a brand new state of being and Rufus did his best to drown it in a glass of strongest cognac he could find. Unfortunately it only made matters worse.

"Aft'oon boss!" Reno grinned .

"Ever heard of knocking?!"

Rufus had a particular affection for Reno. Not long ago, when his body was eating itself in a desperate effort to defeat Geostigma, Rufus preferred to spend his most troublesome morning hours with Reno. The chronically disheveled Turk seemed like an odd confidante for the President's dying thoughts, but Reno's sloppy habits gave Rufus a strange peace of mind. Reno wasn't horrified when he saw Rufus disheveled and pale. It didn't matter if the President was on all fours on the floor of the Healin Lodge bathroom, exhausted from vomiting blackness and blood. Reno was no stranger to being unkept and hugging the toilet porcelain wasn't new to him either. He casually sat next to his superior, sipping his liquor and caressing Rufus's legs, and when Rufus's bouts of nausea stopped Reno told him dirty jokes. They bonded deeply in those moments and ever since then Rufus could not bring himself to treat Reno as just another employee.

Rufus squinted, trying to conceal his obvious intoxication, but before he could put up a decent act his crotch came to life. _Damn tea flowers. They must be an aphrodisiac! _Reno was visibly flushed and sweaty, his lips were infused with color. He smelled of sex. The delicious scent of Reno's cologne, smoke, and body heat drifted into Rufus's nostrils and produced a splendid array of pornographic images.

Rufus stood up to counter the effects of alcohol, but the moment he stood up blood rushed down to his groin. Reno was panting a little. He stared at his superior without blinking, with pure lust reflecting in his lazy eyes. Rufus watched as Reno hungrily drew in air through his nostrils, approaching slowly and shamelessly focusing his stare on Rufus's groin. He was obviously aroused and drops of sweat begun to form on his forehead. Rufus took a step back, evaluating whether such instinctive, purely animal urges were not the figments of his intoxicated imagination. This was a weird and frightening bodily attraction based purely on hormones and he hadn't felt this way since he was a pubescent teenager.

"Your assignment," Rufus stammered, suddenly feeling drunker than he thought he was.

"I'm ready for it, Sir." _Ah, that lazy voice_. Reno was tugging at Rufus's silk tie and quickly unbuttoning his boss's dress shirt.

Rufus recalled locking the door with a private code to ensure it cannot be opened from the outside even with an emergency key, but the rest of the motions were beyond his cognition. Reno was ripping off his expensive suit with the urgency and neediness of a madman. He remembered pulling Reno's trousers and underwear off, remembered looking for something oily, remembered teasing his subordinate with his fingers to relax his body. The rest of the three and a half hours were a messy and delicious blur.

They mated like animals. There was no polite way to describe the violent and graceful manner with which Reno wrapped his legs around his superior's neck, shuddering and sweating as his silent lover forcefully thrust into him. Then Reno playfully bit him and turned on all fours, 

purring, like Rufus' beloved black panther, and arching his back. Rufus reached down and coiled his fingers around Reno's throbbing penis, forcefully stroking the slippery organ until Reno begun to buck and gasp in anticipation. He came soon after with a steam of curses, but curiously his drive didn't seem to diminish.

Just before Rufus was ready for his release Reno dropped on his back and spread his legs in a suggestive position. Intrigued Rufus obeyed his lover's bodily request and covered him in the most traditional position. Growling, he pinned Reno's arms to the floor and proceeded thrusting into his lover with renewed vigor. They muffled each other's screams when their bodies convulsed in unison. Reno was grinning. After a week of building desire he finally felt relief. And he had just fucked the President. Reno hated Mondays, but this particular Monday was the best one on record. He slipped into deep happy sleep in the man's office, naked and exposed right on the carpeted floor.

**RENO'S AFTERNOON**

"Boss, that was-"

"That is to remain between you and I," Rufus commanded, rising up off the floor and rubbing his head. It was late afternoon already and he was still tired enough to sleep another ten hours, but he had to do something productive today.

"You had an assignment for me, Sir." Reno quickly snapped back into character, also rising up and quickly gathering his clothes. _Tseng must be wondering where the fuck I went. _"Give your orders, Sir."

"You…," Rufus sighed with a fleeting smile, "you…as always…have been more than helpful. Rebels…yes, something about those assholes. I think they're trying to kill me. Hell, I don't even remember why I had you come up."

"You were fantastic, Sir."

Reno was still grinning when he spotted a strange shadow creeping up the outer wall of the building.

"Get OUT of the way!" he yelled, leaping over the desk and forcing the younger man to the floor. A shower of broken glass rained over them as they landed onto the lush carpet, Reno shielding Rufus's face from the sharp debris. The enormous glass wall shattered and crumbled to the carpeted floor and down to the streets below. Warm gust of wind picked up the papers on the President's desk and scattered them in an instant. Reno winced in pain. He reached out to touch a deep cut about his hairline.

"You OK, boss?" Reno ignored the stream of blood running down his face.

"If Rude's goddamned tea flowers didn't keep both of us fucking on the floor until now I probably wouldn't have been," Rufus groaned, sitting up. "Come, you need that cut stitched up."

Reno already had his weapon drawn and ready to fire as he scanned the half-finished concrete towers across the street through the broken window, but what he saw puzzled him. Tseng chose the location of the temporary Shinra headquarters in an area of town where no new construction came anywhere close to the executive suite level. The shot came from an angle that made sense only if the shooter could fly. _They came up in a helicopter from the side of the building where we wouldn't see them. _Reno couldn't steady his heartbeat. _They never got this close before. They must have one hell of a pilot. _Reno narrowed his eyes, mentally declaring war.

"Rebels spotted, Sir. Permission to pursue and use deadly force?"

"Permission granted, blow these assholes to hell."


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"Bring'm in here, careful, CAREFUL!"

Vincent snapped from his fixation on the newspaper and jumped up at the sound of Tifa's voice. Tifa rarely raised it and Vincent new, before he emerged from the darkened bedroom of the warehouse they used as their base, that what he was about to see involved injury. He was correct. Barret and Cloud carried a makeshift stretcher upon which Cid was lying, gripping his bleeding shoulder and cursing the entire universe. Sazar Valdi, to Vincent's dismay, was there also, his large arm squeezing the bloody stain on his side. Both men were covered in soot and showed signs of mild burns on their arms and faces.

"Damn it, girl! You trying to put me under!" Cid hissed when Tifa lifted his injured leg onto the narrow bed. "Gimme a smoke, Tif, I want a GODDAMNED cigarette!" Cid grabbed the smokestick and eagerly drew in. "Shouda shot that little fucker Reno when I had the chance! You talkin' about Shinra's ass-kissers Sazar, that slum rat's the biggest one! Did you _see_ him! Chasing us with a goddamned pack of helicopters like that!"

"Yeah I fucking saw him," Sazar Valdi growled, knocking over a chair in a bout of fury, "I HAD him, Cid, I had a good clear shot! I told you you were too fucking slow coming up the wall, the bodyguard Reno musta seen the shadow creeping up. Fuck, now he'll never let us that close again."

"We'll just have to find another damn way," Cid shot back, blowing smoke out of his nose and wiping blood off his face with his dirty hand. "Too bad about the chopper though, that baby flew like a dragonfly."

"Just be glad you two escaped with your lives," Tifa scorned, bandaging Cid's head. "You tried to assassinate the President by flying up to his office window?" Vincent gasped. "You should've known better than to pull a stupid trick like that downtown, with all the towers, cranes, and wires! You're out of your damn mind!"

"Great things require great sacrifices," Valdi hissed through gritted teeth, "just a little more speed and I woulda taken our little aristocrat out of business!" He was still seething with fury.

"And with a little less luck I would have lost Cid!"

"How touching." Sazar's wolf-like laugh abruptly stopped when he felt the barrel of Vincent's gun pressing into his temple. "Too bad Reno didn't take better aim at your side of the helicopter," Vincent's voice was icy and suggestive, "get OUT. Leave, go scheming someplace else. Cid needs to rest."

"Whatever," the man said, turning on his heels and briskly vanishing out the door.

"Condolences on Shera and your buddies at Rocket Town," said Barrett as he squeezed Cid's good shoulder, "man I know you're hurting about that, but you gotta think this one through again. That man gives me the creeps. And we need you in one piece, fool. Let Valdi chase Rufus around if he wants to, we gotta deal with daddy first because-"

"Why don't we stop this nonsense with killing off the Shinra clan and focus on the reactors?" Cloud interrupted. "Last time I talked to Rufus he seemed receptive to the idea of cleaning up the mess his company made. Maybe we can get him to invest in development of oil fields Barrett discovered. We kill him and the Shinra army generals will just take over and I doubt they'll be sympathetic to our cause."

"Good call, Spiky," Barrett slapped Cid's shoulder and got up to leave. "You get some rest now. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

Vincent savored the feel of the linen sheets on his nude skin. It seems Cid and him were always dressed and permanently on the move these days, but not tonight. Cid was smoking quietly, his good arm wrapped around Vincent as they pretended to slumber on the hard narrow bed. Vincent drew in his lover's scent, thoughtfully running his fingers down Cid's chest, through the tufts of coarse hair that circled Cid's nipples, and down his torso that bore the scars of battle. He kissed the man's chest in silence, grateful that no words interrupted their intimacy. Cid's eyes were closed, but his lips were stretched into a deviant grin.

"Where's the claw?" Cid said, without opening his eyes. "I was looking forward to it."

"No claw, just fingers tonight. I want to feel your flesh." Vincent traced circles on his lover's naval. There was nothing in the world as delightful as human skin. It felt velvety and unnatural under Vincent's fingers because his left arm was for so long concealed beneath metal armor. _War_. He refused to think about it tonight. His hand dove under the loose sheets and traced the contours of Cid's erection, caressing and teasing the tender skin until he felt his fingers grow sleek with precum. He felt his lover shift and thrust into his hand, and then, finally, he heard Cid uttering his signature "yes, baby," which signaled his readiness to proceed. Vincent smiled. They've gotten sex to a science by now. He slid on top of his lover, continuing to squeeze and tease the head of Cid's penis, keeping his lover on the brink but slowing his motions just in time not to push Cid over the edge. Vincent always marveled at Cid's ability to go through all stages of orgasm with his eyes closed. He was a pilot to the bone marrow and he relied on his sense of touch to guide him through the motions. Vincent, on the other hand, had to watch. Images and thoughts aroused him more than pure touch and right now he found the grin on Cid's joyous face excruciatingly delightful. Cid had the expression of a naughty schoolboy who was about to score in the bathroom.

"New scent?" Vincent's lips were brushing against Cid's, covering the man's face with feathery kisses. Cid grunted. He liked his kisses aggressive and sloppy, but Vincent found that form distasteful and masterfully evaded his lover's tongue attacks. Cid retaliated by inserting two fingers into Vincent without warning.

"Yeah," he grinned, "what could be better than jasmine-tea-scented lubricant?"

"You and your tea…" Vincent let his hair cascade over his face as he squeezed and relaxed his body around Cid's teasing fingers. Cid stimulated his lover as masterfully as he operated his aircraft. He went straight for the hidden g-spot, forcing Vincent to exhale audibly and bite his lips in a spasm of pleasure. Cid's other hand established a firm hold on Vincent's full buttocks.

"Mmmm," Cid purred, massaging the flesh as though it was his first time touching it, "an ass like that can make a man forget anything!"

"Even Rufus Shinra?" Vincent playfully pinched Cid's nipples. Cid raised his eyebrows without opening his eyes.

"Get on my control stick already!" he commanded, forcing Vincent's hips down and guiding his penis into his lover with an excited growl. "Yeah, goddamnit! Now you're talking! YEAH!"

They grew silent again as their bodies joined in a passionate rhythm. To Vincent sex was a form of art and he engaged his entire body in the activity. He raised and lowered himself over Cid's erected organ, stretching his torso backward and allowing his hair to caress Cid's chest. Cid lit up another cigarette, without opening his eyes, and begun to playfully tease Vincent's scrotum. Vincent was smiling silently as his ass milked his lover's cock. Cid's muscular arms gleamed in the moonlit room as both men begun to sweat. The small warehouse was a dark, 

dingy, and inelegant place with few creature comforts and even less sunlight, but its privacy and isolation from the entire world made it the most suitable place for making love. It felt as though it was just the two of them on the planet.

"Oh yeah, holy shit!" Cid was laughing and grinning as he came with his usual violence, "coming in for the landing, baby! Whooo hooo! Damn, goddamn you're GOOD! Wow." Cid's victorious cries drowned Vincent's subdued moaning, as he spilled his own seed over his lover's stomach. They were always like that, one quiet and brooding, the other loud and outgoing, and together they made one solid whole. Vincent collapsed on top of Cid, who groaned in pain. Vincent frowned, remembering that Cid was wounded, and then it wasn't just two of them in the world anymore.

"You never did answer my question," he said, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Is my great ass enough to make you forget about Rufus Shinra?"

"I see you've changed your tactics," Cid smiled mysteriously and blew smoke into Vincent's eyes. His engagement ring was back on his finger and Vincent surmised that Cid's earlier threats to break off their engagement were old news now. Cid could never stay mad at those he loved, especially after a good orgasm.

"I prefer brunettes," he grinned suggestively, taking a sip from a thin bottle of potent liquor he kept under the pillow, "but then again, I'd need to see Shinra's ass for a fair comparison."

"Oh, you're full of slime, Highwind," Vincent groaned, "that's NOT what I meant!"

"Pretty deviant, I know," Cid shrugged innocently, "but as much as I hate the kid, you gotta admit, stripping him naked is a pretty intriguing idea."


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Mornings in the town of Edge were the best part of the day. Traffic was heavy, but energy and hopes were high. Every resident started a new life each morning, hoping to leave the nightmares behind. Tifa and Barrett did their part to help in that process. Seventh Haven was a booming business now that the town drunks actually had cash and Tifa's tiny orphanage was quickly becoming a small Mecca for orphans seeking a home.

"How's the new building for the orphanage?" Vincent asked, handing Tifa and Barrett cups of steaming jasmine tea. It pleased him to no end that Tifa was with Barrett now. They were practical and well-grounded people and Vincent could think of no two human beings that belonged together better than these two. Cloud was a lovable kid, but he lived in his own world and Tifa was tired of waiting.

"Same as it was before," Barrett sounded irritated, "won't issue us a damn permit to build. That whole street has a four-story minimum height on all buildings. Can't afford an orphan house that large. Yet." Vincent nodded empathetically. "But things'll get better."

"The other day, Barrett, when you guys dragged Cid back in here, you said something about dealing with the old man first. Care to elaborate?" Vincent felt strange tension in the room. Barrett played with a ball of bread he made out of his toast. He looked at Tifa, then back to Vincent.

"My guys from the Wutai network told me old lady Shinra was living in a villa there, way the hell up in the mountains where only crazy old locals know how to get to. Rumor had it she lost her marbles when Midgar went to hell and she thought her boy got deep fried. I figured it made sense, told them to leave the poor woman alone, but Yuffie didn't buy it. She met Mrs. Shinra a few years back, said the woman wasn't the type to go crazy with grief. So she told our guys to keep digging. What do ya know? Looks like old man Shinra's alive and almost well. Bastard's in a wheelchair, but he's been pulling strings with his old cronies to get Shinra back under his control and it doesn't look like Rufus is aware of this."

Vincent frowned to keep his jaw from dropping open. He lived for a very long time and was not an easily impressionable man anymore, but this news proved that he could still be amazed.

"It's been almost three years, how in the hell is this possible?" he finally asked.

"Guess back at Midgar when Sephiroth made kebab out of the old man, he didn't actually kill him all the way. Hey, the guy was fat and wide as a sofa, you could skewer him a hundred ways without doing him in. And my guess is that Rufus was too eager to sit his ass in the President's chair to bother checking that his old man was _actually_ dead. Nobody knows when or how the body was disposed off. But now the kid's gonna pay for his mistake. My guys tell me the old man got somebody to take Rufus out."

"It must suck to be Rufus Shinra. He just turned twenty-three and everybody's got a price on his head already," Vincent sighed.

"Hold it," Tifa suddenly straightened up, her forehead developed a slight wrinkle as she considered something in her mind. "Vincent, you said that Sazar Valdi was an ex-Shinra military major. He doesn't seem like a very idealistic guy, so what turned him into a rebel?"

"Don't know," Vincent shrugged, "last we met he was pretty loyal to the old man Shinra."

"I think he still is! That shithead is fucking with us!" Barrett slammed his metal fist onto the table. "I knew something wasn't straight about him first time I laid my damn eyes on the SOB! It's clear as day what he's doing. The old man Shinra paid Valdi to take his kid out and 

make it look like AVALANCH assassinated Rufus in the course of a rebellion. Valdi is using us and our network like suckers to do his dirty work. Two-faced traitor vermin! I'm gonna kill'm myself!"

"I suspected the man was bad news too," Vincent stood up. "That villain nearly got Cid killed yesterday, trying to get to Rufus!"

"Well, best defense is attack," said Barret, straightening up to his full intimidating height. "Vince, let's go catch the son-of-a-bitch. My gun arm and I would like to ask him a few questions. Tifa, find that fool Yuffie and tell her to pass the word on. And tell Cid to stay his ass in bed 'cos he isn't playing personal pilot for that asshole anymore."

"I will call Reno and give him a heads up on-"

"No!" Barrett cut her off without hesitation. He was still the commander of AVALANCH and he was in the mode of issuing orders. "If daddy and his boy want to cannibalize each other, that's none of our damn business. We got our own problems!"

Tifa swallowed hard to suffocate her anger. It seemed that no matter how much she accomplished in life there was always a man to order her around. She nodded, watching the men head out the door and dialing Reno's number. Rufus may have been a rich cocky asshole at one point, but the Rufus she spoke to last time had the most charming smile and he wrote her a personal check to help support the children she cared for. Tifa didn't hold grudges and she wanted to return the favor.

"Reno?"

"It's Elena. Reno's out," barked an irritated female voice. "This number is private, how did you get it?"

"It's Tifa Lockhart. Think Seventh Haven, Blue Moon Martini special?" Tifa could picture the female Turk loosen up. No, she hasn't forgotten her last birthday bash. "It's about your boss, Rufus Shinra. Martini on the house, if you come without the boys. I am not in a mood to deal with any more testosterone today."


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

"Oh yeah, oh yeah, Rude your' a fucking sex machine, oh hell YES!" Reno's taunt body shuddered and his long fingers clawed at the heavy fabric of his partner's suit. He gasped each time his muscular partner pushed into him, entering Reno at an angle that kept hitting on the locust of nerves that made the redhead bite his lips in ecstasy. His toes cracked and twisted painfully as Reno moaned in pleasure arching his back. "One…more..fucking time…oh YES!" his dry lips whispered as his eyes rolled in his head."

"Can't, gotta pull out..now"

"Wait…no no no…" His body shuddered in anticipation of the long-awaited release when Rude suddenly withdrew his length out of him and gently eased Reno to his feet, planting a quick kiss on Reno's messy red hair.

"No messes, remember?" Reno groaned in annoyance as he quickly stroked his throbbing cock and ejaculated abundantly onto the dusty floor. He watched Rude do the same.He then fell back against his partner's powerful chest. He loved the solid feel of Rude's body against his – Rude was the embodiment of security and he sure knew how to reach Reno's sensitive spots. Too bad Rude was too anal about not coming all over his immaculate suite to ever finish the job.

"I fucking swear, your huge dick makes gainful employment bearable, chocolate man."

"You love it, I know." Rude's eyes were gleaming in the darkened room. He had orgasms down to a science and always pulled out in advance to avoid making a mess of his and Reno's clothes. It drove the redhead into a mad frenzy but it allowed them to fornicate in the most risky places without detection. Helicopter sex was Reno's favorite, but sex inside a dark watch tower hundreds of feet in the air was the next best thing. Rude has already finished cleaning up, replaced his shades, zipped up his trousers, and was all business again.

"Are they doing it yet?" Reno impatiently pulled on Rude's belt. "Quit hogging the vision aids, you prick. Lemme look! I wanna see some classy fucking now!"

"Shut up and keep watch," Rude pushed Reno's groping hand away, "I'll tell you when something's happening."

"So, today's a big day for our boss, huh?" Reno squinted his eyes, scanning for hidden intruders on the territory. All he saw was two huge dogs getting dirty in the bushes. "I betcha when that trust fund kicks in at midnight tonight, we're gonna have a sweet pay raise. Shit, I'm salivating for some filet mignon already!"

"Yeah, since you fucked the President, I'm inclined to agree," Rude said without taking his eyes away from the wall-size window of the Shinra Residence study he's been watching through binoculars.

"Fuck, don't be jealous, big man," Reno teasingly tickled Rude's groin, "we can go screw some more again after dinner. I'm sure Tseng won't need any help guarding pretty boy tonight!"

"Do you buy this investor relations dinner shit?" Rude asked matter-of-factly, batting Reno's groping hand away.

"Hah! Not a chance!" Reno scoffed. "Ruffy's finally gonna stick his paw into daddy's money stash tonight and that's why he's celebrating. He invited a bunch of his admirers so he can talk shit about his old man while the old perverts drool watching his lips move. Little egomaniac has a special thing for military men, I'm telling ya." Rude laughed quietly and shook his head.

"You would know."

"I would," Reno sneered with particular evilness, "he told me once. You know how folks spit out all kinds of interesting facts when they think they're about to buy a farm? But he's never actually done it, you know, he never let anybody cover him. Betcha he's itching to-"

"Oh oh, here comes Tseng! Don't know about generals, Reno, but Tseng is going to get some one-on-one with the President right about NOW. Holy hell, they really ARE gonna do it! Right in front of the damned window!"

"Gimmy this shit already, yo!" Reno grabbed the binoculars from his partner. "Oh yeah, looking fine, Tseng! Damn, boss gained some weight from all that sitting around and it all went to his ass! I can't believe this. You ever saw how his cheeks move beneath those trousers? Hey, you're his doc, how come you haven't taken that virgin peach for a drive? Huh?"

"Too incestuous," Rude shrugged. "I practically saw him grow up."

"Old prude!" Reno licked his lips, delighted at what he saw. "Wait. Oh, no no NO!" Reno groaned when Tseng, after pausing by the window and giving Reno a small wave, drew the curtains shut.

"Reno, Rude, ever heard of getting your pay ducked for misuse of company equipment!" came Tseng's voice over the speakerphone. "Reno, put your dick back into your pants and get your ass back in here to check out the guests. Rude, find Elena. She isn't answering her phone."


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Tifa looked at the ball of Gil that a customer has left with disgust. _Who keeps their money in this shape?_ She sighed. Something inside her wanted to object to the balled-up notes of Gil, to the liquid shit on the bathroom stool, to the can of beer that never made it into the garbage bin next to which it lay, but she couldn't verbalize her frustration. It was just the way men were, and it just irritated her. She gathered up a thick stack of yellow missed-phone-call slips meant for Cloud and threw them in the trash. _Like that flake will ever call his customers back. _

Wiping the shiny new counter Tifa mused about Cloud's dreamy eyes, remembering the time she could not think about them without butterflies forming in her stomach. _He never did move on after Aerith and Zack, and he probably never will. _Which is why she gave up on her attraction. She was so drawn to Barrett's positive get-it-done energy once too, but now she was tired of being a soldier in his army, constantly taking orders and agreeing with him, because he was older, because he knew more, and, generally, because he was a man and he just knew better. _Arghrrr!_

"Martini on the house? I came without the boys." Elena slid on the stool right in front of Tifa and narrowed her eyes, analyzing the possibilities. Elena wasn't a friend, she wasn't an enemy. She was a perky, big-mouthed junior Turk Tifa pretended she couldn't stand but in truth she didn't mind having around. Elena was the only female in a raging ocean of Shinra testosterone and she "got" Tifa, who was the only female owner of a bar for miles around, the way other people couldn't. Sometimes Elena would come to the bar, alone, right before closing, and they would talk about random things, and then Elena would get up and leave, without saying anything more. She pretended not to like Tifa either, but they just "got" each other, and Tifa liked the simplicity of their communication.

"Coming right up." Tifa set the jumbo Martini glass in front of Elena and filled it to the brim with glowing turquoise liquid. To her surprise Elena took the glass and poured it down her throat like decaf tea. _Girl's a lot tougher than she looks. _ "Shitty day at work?" Tifa scolded herself for noticing the way Elena's breasts were obviously too large for her bra and were stretching her white shirt wide open. Elena caught Tifa's eyes on her chest.

"Yeah, I know, damn boobs stand between me and getting some respect. I'm gonna have them reduced in size. Pour me another one, will ya?" Elena struggled to close the gaping hole in her shirt, but her efforts only resulted in one of the buttons coming off, revealing even more of her sensual cleavage. "Fuck. Now I look like I've been attacked. Reno'll be all over it."

"Kick'm in the nuts, that usually does it," Tifa poured Elena another Martini. "You should leave your boobs alone. They're fine the way they are, I think."

"What do you know about my boss Shinra?" Elena demanded in a slightly drunken voice. Tifa leaned on the counter and beckoned for Elena to come closer. Seventh Haven was busy tonight and she didn't want curious ears to overhear.

"You know, drunk folks talk around here. I hear there's a price on his head," Tifa whispered, matter-of-factly shining a wine-glass. "I hear the old man Shinra's alive and well, and he's hired an assassin to take your boss out of the game. If I were you, I'd-" Tifa froze when she spotted Rude at the entrance to the bar.

_Damnit. He's the last Turk I need to see right now. _Rude looked like pure muscle, but he was an extraordinary intelligent man. He was a personal medic of the wealthy slum lords before he joined the Turks and having served in the same capacity for Rufus Shinra since Rufus was a teenager, Rude has developed a deep personal attachment to the man. Elena was too junior to have deep loyalties, but Rude was fiercely protective of his boss and disliked rebels who 

threatened Rufus' well-being. If Rude overheard what Tifa meant to tell Elena, he would stop at nothing , including torture, to find out what else Tifa knew. And she knew a lot.

"Shit, your man there is looking for you, I bet." Elena took out a compact mirror from her breast pocket and looked into it to check out the entrance without turning her head. Rude was there, scanning the crowed, and he seemed impatient.

"Oh holy hell," Elena whispered in desperation, "he sees me with that Martini glass and my tits hanging out, when I'm supposed to be guarding boss at the Shinra banquet, Tseng will eat me alive." Elena sighed, then, without warning, she reached across the counter, coiled her fingers in Tifa's hair and forced her into a vigorous kiss.

Tifa's eyes tripled in size but she didn't pull away because any struggle would attract unwanted attention. She allowed Elena to cover her lips with persistent kisses that tasted like Blue Martini and expensive dark chocolate lip-gloss. Female kisses, Tifa discovered, were curiously charming. Elena's lips were soft, full, and sensitive to touch. She wasn't slobbering all over, she wasn't marking her territory, and she wasn't so aggressive that the kiss felt like a punch.

Elena was caressing Tifa's lips the way she would eat a juicy peach, and the heated skin of her neck and breasts felt pleasant to Tifa's own chilled body. Her nipples shrunk to the size of raisins beneath her fitted leather vest. Her body was relaxing and Elena's grip on her hair morphed into a gentle hold. Tifa was at a loss. Women had so many scents, from perfumes to shampoos, and the bouquet of fragrances, mixed with body heat and cigarette smoke incited heated sensation in Tifa's lower stomach and groin. Her clitoris was definitely tingling, in that perverse delightful way it which it hasn't for a very long time. She was a serious and focused woman whose idealistic pursuits usually took precedence over sex and, while highly sexual, Tifa wasn't the type to be easily aroused by kissing. But she was now, and she felt the proof of that all over the inner thighs of her legs.

Rude watched Tifa, and he watched the back of Elena's head, frozen in shock. _Now THAT makes my evening! _He observed for a moment, and then his lips spread into something of a smile. He turned on his heels and walked away as silently as he came in.

Elena finally let go of Tifa's hair and sat back down. As if all that just went down was routine business, she adjusted her hair, wiped off the smeared lip-gloss, and raised the Martini glass in an informal toast. "To superb kissers and best Blue Martinis in Edge," she poured the glass down her throat and licked her lips with a wicked grin. "I already thanked you for the heads-up. Gonna go spread the word." She slid off the stool in slow motion and languidly headed for the door.

"Come back again sometime," Tifa blinked a few times, toughing her swollen lips.


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Tseng turned away from the window to find Rufus perched on the mahogany table. He sat on top of a mountain of paperwork and he ignored the dozens of documents his long cream coat was scattering all over the floor. Rufus inherited his mother's impeccable sense of style, but tonight he had his lustful admirers to entertain and he looked truly impressive in his finest suit with a tailored vest that hugged his body in elegant contrast to his long jacket. Few people noticed how expressive Rufus's eyes had been. He hated and loved with his eyes and now his icy-steel irises were smiling at Tseng. He looked more handsome each year, especially after he regained his healthy weight.

Tseng slowly exhaled, admiring his boss. _Who knew that the scrawny, sad-looking kid who was always too small for his age would grow up to be the most powerful and arguably most handsome man in the world? But then again, who knew that a poor bastard kid from Wutai would grow up to become this man's lover? _

"Come." Rufus stretched out his hand and beckoned Tseng into a gentlemanly embrace. Tseng silently obliged. He wrapped his hands around Rufus's waist, careful not to disturb their dress clothes and rested his head on his superior's shoulder, inhaling the rich spicy scent of his freshly showered body. He drew a circle on the heated flesh with his tongue. Rufus could have been a slum whore, and Tseng would love him no less, but there was something infinitely erotic about being a secret lover of a President. Rufus was kissing Tseng's neck like he always did when he was thinking.

He wasn't really a gentle human being. He had his father's cruel streak, and like his mother he was moody and impatient. He always hungered for control, but tonight Rufus was surprisingly content. Like his father Rufus loved money and the prospect of dipping into the vast trust fund that was set to kick in three years after his father's death lulled him into a state of euphoria. He was also slightly drunk.

"I want you to have my summer house at the Costa," Rufus whispered into Tseng's ear, running his fingers through Tseng's hair. "I hate that house, but I know you like it. Your mother can live there. And a Vice President needs a summer home."

"Sir?"

"You will not deny me this. It's the least I can do. You've been a good provider for three years now. I live on credit, Tseng. If it wasn't for your money smarts I would have been destitute."

Tseng was smiling. He knew it was true and he struggled to maintain his façade of modesty.

"A rich man can have things his way, and the way I want it is for you to be the official Vice President. You're doing the job anyway. Besides, that way our relationship won't have to be the best known secret anymore."

His lips were so hot that Tseng felt the heat with his ear. Rufus's kisses were turning into bites. He was so impatient with foreplay. He was painfully aroused and he wanted to get to business.

"I don't think it's a wise move Sir," Tseng said, evading Rufus. "Even if you officially promote me to VP, I still won't be the classiest match. Now, General Dexterus is another matter. Even your father approved of him. He is the most powerful man in the military now and rumor has it that he is considering a formal marriage proposal. It would ensure the army is loyal to you." Rufus bit Tseng's ear with unapologetic malice.

"And it would make for the most scandalous headline of the year," his hand was making its way down to Tseng's crotch. "Don't be obnoxious, you know I'll never accept such a proposal and it isn't a matter of class or politics." Rufus stilled Tseng's head between his hands and watched the man intently. "It's about trust."

They were embracing again, laughing softly and exchanging careful caresses.

"Trust me then, Sir. Close your eyes and don't move." Curious, Rufus leaned back on the desk and spread his legs wider to allow Tseng to get closer.

Tseng took his time. He unhurriedly unbuttoned the young President's tailored vest, taking a moment to admire the dark silk before parting it to reveal the black satin dress shirt underneath. He was an experienced Turk, but despite his profession he kept his hands immaculately groomed, just for moments like these. Rufus closed his eyes and relaxed under his touch. He trusted no other human being in the world like this.

Tseng begun to unbutton his shirt. He savored the satin feel of Rufus' skin, drawing in the heated scent of the flesh and tracing the slightly visible scars with his fingers. He moved on to caressing each of the dark pink nipples with his lips, carefully tugging and biting on the sensitive skin to incite sensation. He looked up to see his boss' eyelids flutter, and listened to his quickening breathing, but Rufus rarely vocalized pleasure and Tseng was satisfied with his silence. He gave his lover's nipples one last rub and begun to trail his lips down the middle of Rufus' stomach. _Such young body he has_. Pausing to suck the delicate skin on Rufus's naval Tseng settled into the executive chair so his head was at the same level as his lover's privates.

"Alright, alright, you proved your point!" Rufus begun to writhe under Tseng's touch. "You know, white stains so easily. It tickles like hell, stop! You'll have to eat with that mouth! Come on, I'm not that special!"

"Sure you are," Tseng said in his best professional voice, "you have blond pubic hair. Do you know how rare that is?"

He closed his lips over the head of Rufus's penis and relaxed his mouth, allowing the organ to slip deeper into his throat. He was paid to do this once, when he was barely a teenager, and he was the best money could buy. But this he took pleasure in. He moved his head in a half-circular motion, up and down the throbbing shaft, not really sucking, just tightening and relaxing his lips over the organ. Tseng did everything with class. He disliked vulgarity, and he caressed his boss's penis as skillfully as he would eat a fancy cake from one of the artsy bakeries. Rufus made the task easy to enjoy.

Unlike the men Tseng was once paid to sexually entertain, Rufus had a pathological obsession with hygiene and kept his curious white-blond bush neatly trimmed. Tseng found the light musky scent mixed with spicy cologne as arousing as pheromones. His tongue paused to tease the split of the penis, sensing that his lover was on the verge. Rufus was breathing hard and sweat drops begun to form on his forehead and cheeks. His slight shifting under Tseng's touch grew desperate and erratic, as he wrapped his barefoot legs around Tseng's shoulders.

Tseng was relentless, he begun to suck on the aroused flesh with renewed vigor, carefully closing his teeth around the skin and teasing and pulling on the organ until Rufus begun to quietly gasp. Tseng released the penis from his mouth and took a deep breath as he massaged the cock and waited for the stream of precum to flood out of it. He savored the taste of the President's flesh like fine wine. Rufus subsisted in a peculiar diet of sugar, caffeine, and cognac, and while such diet wasn't particularly healthy, it did wonders for the taste of his body fluids. Tseng carefully licked the clear fluid, running his tongue around the head of the penis and savoring the moment when his lover finally released a stream of semen down his throat. Rufus 

collapsed on his back after the orgasm, knocking over a large flower vase and a waterfall of paperwork that littered the carpeted floor.

He didn't care who heard and who knew. His sweaty body was tingling all over and his world was spinning from alcohol and erotic satisfaction. Rufus observed Tseng for a moment and tried to imagine his life if his dutiful Wutaian lover didn't exist. He found that idea disagreeable and unnatural and he reached out to force Tseng into another round of embraces. _Is this love?_ Rufus couldn't tell. He knew very little about that mysterious concept.


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Rufus gave his reflection one last glance to quiet his vanity. He winked at Tseng and taking his Champaign glass from his bodyguard he toasted his own reflection. Before the start of the banquet he gathered the Turks in his study to announce generous pay raises and to congratulate Tseng on his impending official promotion to Vice President of Shinra Inc. His cock couldn't wait to continue the celebration in the bedroom, but he kept decorum. This was his night.

"It's a shame your father never got to see how handsome you've grown up to be." Rufus smiled at General Dexterus without turning away from the mirror. The man was indeed an epitaph of a military leader and even though it's been years since Rufus was his student at Junon Military Academy, he still felt aroused and nervous in his presence. The general was tall, broad-shouldered and rigidly postured, with raven-black hair grizzed at the sides and deceptively gentle voice. He ranked right below Sephiroth in Shinra armed forces and he lusted after Rufus ever since he laid his eyes on the young heir back at Junon. Since the fall of Midgar General Dexterus became the most powerful military commander and even though his courtship of Rufus was pure politics, the vanity in the young President did not allow him to rebuff the General's advances. He liked being paid attention to.

"You flatter me," Rufus nodded at the elder man in the mirror.

General offered him a small panther cub with a long tail and glowing yellow eyes.

"I know how much you loved Black Nation. This cub was bred from the same parents."

Rufus accepted the struggling animal, careful not to allow the young panther to claw at his suit, with the look of a small child receiving a long-awaited gift. The cub stopped struggling in his arms and observed her new owner.

"Very gracious of you, General," Rufus finished his Champaign and threw the class into the fireplace, drunk on self-satisfaction. "As for my old man, the best thing he ever did for me was to drop dead! Forgive me if I sound cruel, I'm sure getting to spend his money starting tomorrow will cure most of my bitterness!" The panther let out a loud hiss.

"You…!" came a loud voice from the hallway entrance. "YOU're not gettin' a single coin of MY Gil, you egotistic, scheming little skunk!"

Rufus spun around dropping the panther cub from his arms, his full lips parted wide open in spite of his attempt to keep calm. Inside his chest his heart beat so fast he was sure a heart attack was inevitable. He glared at the figure in a wide wheelchair briskly entering the room, nearly running over Rude's foot. The man positioned himself closer to the window where the dying sunlight clearly illuminated his face. Albert Shinra has not aged a day. His cheeks were flushed from extreme irritation and he had lost a lot of weight, but the old man Shinra was still holding his signature cigar, and was still wearing his smirk and his favorite albeit better-fitted brown suit.

"I left you a company in excellent standing!" the man screamed in frustration, throwing the nearest candle at Rufus's head, "and what did YOU DO! You incompetent vain son-of-a-bitch! Fucked up my entire enterprise and ran yourself into debt with fancy suits and expensive booze! I'll beat your ass bloody when I get out of this damned wheelchair! WHAT?!" the old man glared at General Dexterous and the three Turks who stared back with blank expressions of shock.

"You were supposed to be dead, a long time ago, Sir?" Reno immediately regretted having stated the obvious when the old man Shinra hurled a candle at his head as well.

"Reno, you still on my payroll you jackal?! All you Turks are nothin' but a bunch of ass-kissing thugs! I shoulda thrown all your ass out a long time ago!" he pointed at the Turks with 

his cigar. "I'll outlive ALL of you dumb bastards! Three years in a coma is a nap for a man with a strong spirit, and since my son obviously didn't inherit my business smarts, I'll need all the spirit I can get to rebuild my Shinra. Stupid boy!" he pointed at Rufus. "You should'a had the decency to accept General Dexterus' marriage proposal, since there's no brains in that pretty head of yours!"

"You…this can't be," Rufus whispered, close to fainting from anger and surprise, "my mother is…was alive all this time too? And you… you are not dead!"

"Dead? I've never been better!" his father screamed back, "and you, young sir, are UNSEATED as President of Shinra Inc.! As long as I'm alive your ass will not sit in another executive chair again!"

_Damn_, Tseng sighted, _and I was so close to becoming Vice President._

"Well," Rufus growled, "that's easy enough to fix! This time I'll make sure you stay dead!"

He tensed up, preparing for attack, but Reno unexpectedly blocked his way. He gracefully coiled his arm around the President's waist and held him back with enough firmness that Rufus didn't push him away.

"Do you remember, at the Healin Lodge," Reno whispered into his superior's ear, "when your toes begun to turn black and you couldn't breathe, who did you call out to when you thought you were dying? You'll regret killing him, boss."

"Shut up!" Rufus was still breathing hard. He glared at Reno and then at the old man with all the resolve he could gather and briskly walked out of the room.

"That's right, you coward, you should run!" the old man screamed after him. "That boy," he shook his fist in disapproval, "couldn't wait to see him after all this time and now I remember why I always wanted to strangle the SOB!"


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

"It's too dangerous for you to be unaccompanied, Sir," Tseng called after his superior, catching up with him on the staircase. Rufus slowed down to face him. His eyes were moist at the corners, but his sheer resolve commanded the tears not to fall.

"The only time I ever cried in my life was when I mourned them," his voice was so icy and yet so full of agony that Tseng had to look away. "After the explosion at Midgar, and later when I thought I was going to die from Geostigma, my only comfort was that I will see them on the other side. That maybe we wouldn't hate each other like we did in life…and all this time my mother was vacationing next to my old man. Not one word from either one of them. I _hate_ them. I need to be alone."

"Of course, Sir."

"No, I mean, _really_ alone." Unexpectedly Rufus reached out to run his fingers down Tseng's cheek. He petted the skin with unusual tenderness. By then Reno had joined them in the hallway, but sensing the mood the normally vocal Turk remained silent. "With you people I never really am, am I?"

"We're your bodyguards, boss," Reno shrugged, "that's the idea. We guard your body. All the time." Rufus granted the Turk a sad smile.

"Yes, you both do so really well, but I am in the mood to kill somebody and if you follow me around now, I'll shoot you." His smile melted away and his face turned cold and angry again.

"Please don't go anywhere tonight!" Rufus spun around to find Elena with her rich breasts nicely exposed under her unbuttoned shirt and her swollen lips smelling of sweet liquor. _Maybe I do like women. Some women, at least. _He came so close to the surprised Elena that her lovely breasts touched his chest. Rufus placed both his hands on her shoulders. _Small waist, large bust. So much like my mother. Too much like my mother. _"Please, Sir. I just heard…I…there's an assassin looking to kill you."

"My father is back in town, haven't you heard? Of course he wants me dead. I don't know why he ever bothered conceiving me."

Rufus shoved Elena out of his way and quickly strode away, the heels of his dress shoes clicking on the shiny hardwood floor.

Rufus hated to be angry. He was cold and detached with most of the world because it provided a secure shield to his unstable core, but anger threatened to crack that shield, revealing to all the world that he could in fact bleed and cry. He was crying now and he despised himself for it.

In the privacy of his master bedroom he stripped to the waist and stuck his head under a faucet of icy water. He hated his reflection. No matter how hard he tried to conceal it with expensive suits and good manners, he still looked like a stupid kid. A stupid kid who always fell short of his father's expectations. He was always too pretty and not smart enough. The sadness was unbearable and he craved the one solution he had resorted to since his early teens – alcohol, the strongest money can buy.

Rufus made his way to the liquor cabinet. _What? No liquor?_ He was ready to kill. _None in the cupboards. None under the bed. Empty. Zilch. _He grabbed the phone to dial Tseng's number, but hung up before it rang. His aggression was boiling over and spilling into helpless rage as he smashed the phone into the mirror. _My father is alive! _This was a disaster. It changed everything, his every plan, every dream he nurtured and cultivated in his mind was ruined. But it was worse.

There was no way out of the nightmare. During the many turbulent months that followed the death of his father Rufus was drunk on his newly gained power and freedom, but soon enough his nights grew lonely and cold. He desperately missed the elegant company of his mother. Rufus also learned that his hatred of his old man had a wounded and bleeding sense of love at its core. There were days when he would give up anything to hear his old man yell at him, and there were nights when he choked on fine cognac, remembering the few moments of intimacy he shared with his father over strong spirits. If Rufus had his old man killed, he would regret it just like Reno said, but he still hated his father and he couldn't stand to be under the same roof with him just the same.

He didn't want consolation. He didn't want understanding. He wanted OUT. He wanted somebody to fuck him senseless and then blow out his brains, putting him out of his misery. _There's no mystery to buying liquor in the city and it's been an awfully long time since I sat behind the wheel of my own car. _

Sazar Valdi was two sips of whiskey away from whacking the irritating one-eyed bum on the barstool next to him when he saw _him._ Rufus Shinra himself, looking like a rich arrogant asshole that he was, halting his sleek blood-red vehicle to a stop in front of the liquor store on the opposite side of the street. _Shocking that the rich boy even knows how to drive!_ Rufus still wore his signature white trousers, but his black dress shirt was unbuttoned, with sleeves rolled up and he wore no jacket. His hair was messy and wet, which gave him the look of a high-end escort boy whose night didn't go so well. Sazar chocked, dropping his cigarette into his drink, and almost knocked over the old man's beer. _Can he really be that stupid? Or that arrogant? _Sazar remained seated for a while, watching for the security tail, but there was none. _Rufus Shinra, alone, unguarded, in a shady district of Edge_. _Now THAT is not something you see every day._ Sazar felt his crotch stir in anticipation. Just then he felt the vibration of his phone.

"What's new boss?"

"Deal's off Valdi, you hear me? Call off your dogs, I changed my mind."

"Ain't it a bit late for a change of heart, boss, after all this investment."

"I do not like to repeat myself, Mr. Valdi. I said the deal is off. You will still get paid for your efforts, generously paid, but if one hair falls from my son's head I will have yours. Do we have an understanding?"

"Never clearer, boss." Valdi hung up. He watched Rufus cross the street unhurriedly, in that regal and nonchalant manner of his. _Now I see what you been hiding under that long coat of yours, pretty boy. _Sazar sneered, getting more and more aroused as he watched the younger man's full buttocks shifting beneath the dress fabric of his slacks as he walked. _Curves like that can stop traffic. _He pushed off the table, leaving a few bills for the bum to grab up. The phone buzzed again when he stepped outside.

"Valdi? Gotta make sure you got my drift about what I said earlier. I said I will still pay you. You leave my kid alone."

"I got it, I got it boss, I won't kill him." Valdi hung up again, shaking his head. _These Shinras are a goldmine. Well, let's see how much your baby is worth to you, old man._

"Hey Cid, you still at that shithole warehouse of yours? Clean it up, I'm bringing in an important guest."

Sazar hid the cellphone and flattened himself against the wall of the building, waiting. When Rufus exited the store, still angry and demonstratively drinking from a slender 

bottle of scotch he just procured, Sazar shadowed him until Rufus paused near a space where a gap between two tall unfinished buildings formed a pitchblack alley.

He had finished the bottle and threw it into the darkness. His car was no more than five steps away. _Damn, I locked my keys inside!_ Sazar stepped in front of Rufus as though by mishap and forcefully pushed him away from the neon lights of the street and into the dark. His enormous red eyes glowed in the dark. Within seconds he had one of his arms wrapped around Rufus's waist, like a greedy lover, with the other hand pressing the blade of a short curved knife to Rufus's naval. The rebel sneered. He liked to see surprise in his victim's eyes.

"Breath too deeply," he whispered into Rufus's ear, "and I'll let your intestines out. Not a very stylish way to go, Mr. Shinra, not to mention, a very painful one. Give me both of your hands."

He placed a pair of shiny handcuffs on Rufus' wrists. "Now, let's talk a romantic walk." Rufus felt the barrel of large caliber gun pressing into his spine.


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

"Your choice, boss," Valdi was purring into the receiver of his mobile phone, "I'll give you an hour to think about it. No, I didn't kill him, but if you want his pretty ass back in one piece and without permanent scars…Weeeell…that depends. You love you son, don't you? Then pay up, asshole, or I'll drink his blood for breakfast!"

Valdi hung up and winked at Rufus, whom he had pinned to the concrete wall of the warehouse. "Think he'll call back with an offer? Let's hope your old man earnestly changed his mind about killing you. He paid me to do it earlier, you know."

Cid Highwind carefully observed the scene as he sucked the smoke out of his cigarette.

"A man like you," Sazar exhaled in a hoarse voice, blowing smoke into his captive's face and trailing one of his hands down Rufus's throat, "the whole world on your young shoulders and a whole lotta coldness between your sheets. Men, women, they all lust after you but you always deny them. Only thing that gets you off is control and fucking with people makes you lose it."

His grip on Rufus's neck turned into a vicious chock-hold. "Well, I got news for you, Mr. Shinra. I am going to take that control from you, and I'll take your honor and your daddy's money along with it. And then…well, my folk have a tradition, you see. We eat human flesh."

"You're wasting your time," Rufus hissed, "my old man won't pay you a coin to save my life."

"That settles it then," Valdi laughed, "I am going to fuck you and then I am going to kill you. Hey Highwind, you got any objections to holding Mr. Shinra accountable for your dead ex-wify Shera and your folks at Rocket Town?"

"Hey, his Shinra grunts take liberties with village girls, so to hell with _his _honor and the asshole got no fucking problem demanding executions of other people!" Cid spat in disgust, "so NO, I got no objections to serving him some of the same. Fuck him and fuck his old man."

"I never knew you to be so bloodthirsty," Rufus glared at Cid Highwind.

"I fucking wasn't, till you and your shitty enterprise started to shoot my people for nothing! No need to waste money on common people, huh? Rule the world with fear, wasn't it your plan? Cruelty is a two-way street, you punk."

"Forget him," Rufus turned away from Cid in frustration, "let's talk. You and I. Suppose I was willing to let you take control…can we forego the killing and eating part?" The rebel's eyes widened in surprise. _Rufus Shinra, about to get killed and still having the balls to attempt negotiation?_ This was too delightful. "What terms can you offer me?"

Sazar was deeply flattered because his methods were working. Young Shinra stopped giving orders. His voice grew softer and more cajoling than commanding. He masked it well, but he was scared. He believed Valdi was a cannibal. The kid wasn't the type to beg of course, he had survived a dozen assassination attempts already, but he sensed that this time was different. Deeply amused, Sazar ran his hand down the younger man's groin, massaging the bulging privates as he watched his prey. _Funny how fear and arousal often go hand-in-hand._

"I don't _offer_ terms, Mr. Shinra. I give orders." Sazar mockingly mimicked Rufus's deceitfully polite tone. "And the only way I take my bitches is on their back and squirming under me, where I can see their faces. An aristocratic bitch like you I wouldn't fuck any other way."

The powerful rebel planted a rough kiss on Rufus's neck and forced him away from the wall. He cocked his long-barreled pistol and rubbed Rufus's neck with it as he uncuffed the younger man's hands.

"Disobey me and I'll shoot you like a rabid dog, got me? Now, let's see what's under those designer rags of yours!"

Rufus hesitated. He felt lightheaded and disoriented as the scotch raced through his bloodstream, obliterating his sense of control. He stole a quick glance at Cid Highwind, who was still perched on a stool and was staring back with unmasked curiosity. Valdi's glowing eyes did frighten Rufus. The man was from a small tribe of outlaw desert nomads who subsisted on weapons smuggling and were rumored to eat human flesh. Valdi had a powerful oversized jaw and a carnivorous sneer. Rufus shuddered and begun to unbutton his shirt.

His eyes wondered about the cluttered room until they came back to captain Highwind, a muscular and energetic man he remembered well from his youth. His dick remembered him too and it twitched and stirred, just as it did when Rufus first saw Cid as a young teenager. He fantasized about the young, handsome, and daring pilot for days after the Airforce Show he attended with his father and Cid Highwind hasn't changed one bit since that day. Rufus undressed with professionalism and composure of a stripper, never breaking eye contact with Cid. He stripped because Valdi ordered him to, but he stripped for Captain Highwind. Cid drew his eyes away, swearing under his breath and… smiling.

"Goddamn, I think I'm in love with your body!" Valdi's laugh had a cold undertone and he sniffed at Rufus the way a hungry wolf sniffs its prey. His rough hands groped Rufus's thighs and buttocks as he pressed the barrel of his gun into the man's spine. "Ahh, without your tough bodyguard and your power suits you're such an innocent baby! Young, stuffed with hormones, and well-fed. Mmmm, smell so good. Yes, good enough to eat!"

Rufus was seriously disturbed and disgusted with the man's obvious interest in his body as a potential source of dinner. He glanced at Cid again, but the captain's eyes were unreadable. And his drawn weapon was still pointed at Rufus's head, so attempting to run was still a bad idea. Noticing Rufus's intention the rebel re-handcuffed Rufus's hands in the front. He then shoved Rufus toward the makeshift guest bed positioned in the corner of the main room, forcing the younger man onto it, spreading his legs with his knees and climbing on top. Rufus's eyes widened in fear and his body tensed up at the sight of an enormous carving knife Valdi produced from his belt.

The rebel pinned Rufus's arms above his head and licked the side of his face, producing an unnaturally low animal growl. Sazar liked to make love to men, but the men he romanced were gritty slum dwellers. They were bulky and foul-mouthed and rough. They smelled of work. Rufus Shinra smelled of wealth. His cologne was an intoxicating mix of spices, his rich thick hair fell through Sazar's fingers like liquid gold. Sazar salivated at the thought of ravishing his taunt, youthful body. He wanted to own this splendid creature the way he owned his knives and his guns.

"Yes, you do taste good," the rebel hissed, licking Rufus's neck. "Let's add a little spice to the mix, shall we?" Rufus squeezed his eyes shut. Valdi raised the blade up to Rufus's neck when the phone on his massive belt begun to ring.

"What'th'fuck you doin' with that carver, Valdi?" Cid demanded, squinting his eyes at the blade. His face was twisted with surprise and revulsion. "You fucking lost your damn mind?"

"You know what I like," Sazar sneered at Cid. "Think of it as, serving him some of the same."

"Answer your fucking phone, Valdi, and put that knife away. I never heard of any damn Shinra grunt eating villagers, so you can't eat him either, alive or dead. Fucking lunatic, I thought you were kidding about that cannibalism shit!"

Valdi flipped open his phone and leaned off of Rufus, who immediately moved as far away from the man as he could get.

"Yes, your precious child is still in one piece, boss, though you almost didn't call in time. No, I'll let him out only when I see the cash. Leave it, I'll pick it up." He shook his knife at Rufus. "It's your lucky day, asshole. Guess daddy'll pay up after all. You watch our golden boy," Sazar nodded at Cid. "We'll continue when I come back as a rich man."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rufus breathed a sigh of relief and stretched out his naked body on the dark linens. _What a pathetic drunk coward! _he scolded himself, realizing that he was visibly shuddering. _I shouldn't have been so horrified. He's just a NUT JOB with weird eyes. _Rufus still couldn't stop his nude body from shaking. Very few things truly scared him, but Sazar Valdi was a monster right out of his childhood nightmares. With his crimson eyes, a carnivorous toothy sneer, and a huge carving knife, he was the boogey man Rufus's mother used to scare him with when he would wonder off without his bodyguard and nanny as a child.

"It's a shitty thing to be scared, isn't it?" Cid Highwind stood over Rufus, blowing smoke doughnuts into the air. "Feels good to be in the shoes of the people you were so damn willing to scare into submission, you cruel little punk? Your old man at least tried to protect the common folk, but you, you don't think we're worth your money."

"But you stopped him anyway, Highwind. Why?" Rufus was feeling the surge of cockiness again. How he hated to be lectured.

"B'cos you're a damn pup and you kept looking at me, asking for help with those pretty eyes of yours, and I saw your fear. I knew he was going to hurt you for real and I just couldn't fucking stand to watch. I'm not a hardened thug or a sadist." Rufus smirked. He also hated when people felt sorry for him.

"I wasn't scared!" he snapped. "And don't think for one moment I'll remember your chivalry when my soldiers arrest you for kidnapping, Captain! You and your AVALANCH crew cost me a million Gil. Now get out of my way." He tried to sit up and slide off the bed, but before Rufus could blink Cid had him by the throat and on his back again. The captain was leaning over Rufus and glaring straight into his eyes.

"You arrogant little son-of-a bitch!" Cid was so mad he was blushing. "Is this what I get for saving your ass? I'll teach you some goddamned manners, since your old man obviously didn't!"

"Grrr, humor me, captain!" Cid punched Rufus as forcefully as he could, causing a river of blood to stream out of the younger man's nose.

"I swear on my Shera's grave I will," Cid growled. "You'll be begging me to stop!"

He took a silk black scarf he carried in his chest pocket as a token of Shera's affection and used it to tie across Rufus's mouth. "This'll help'ya keep your fucking mouth shut, at least some of the damn time!"

He thoroughly enjoyed the deep crimson color that flooded Rufus's forcefully parted lips. Young Shinra was biting at his restraint and aggressively resisted, but Cid was beyond forgiveness. He had drunk enough and he had brooded on his anger long enough, and now the scent of Rufus's nude, resisting and feverish body beneath him was arousing him stronger than any pheromones. He couldn't kill him, no matter how angry he was, but what nature dictated was the next best thing.

"Spread'em wider," he commanded, forcing Rufus's muscular legs apart. "The more you fight me, the more you'll hate it." But to his surprise Rufus stopped resisting. Cid noticed that Rufus's cock was defiantly erect and drops of passion sweat formed on his stomach. His eyes were lustful and rebellious and drunk, and he coiled his legs around Cid's waist as though he was challenging the captain to do his worst. _Little pervert, _Cid spat out his cigarette, impatiently unzipping his pants and exposing his own throbbing erection, _he's playing with me! Nobody messes with Cid Highwind! _

He was furious at the thought that Rufus wasn't taking him seriously. He could strangle the kid right there, with that black scarf, and dispose of his body in the wasteland where animals would scatter his bones. He could allow Sazar Valdi to torture him to death and then to devour his flesh. Or he could just turn him out on the street, naked and drunk, and let the street thugs decide his fate. But Cid was a hands-on type of man and he was going to take his revenge in person. He swallowed several times to flush down the traces of liquor in his saliva and spat on his fingers. _A little spit will do the job, no need to waste expensive lubricant on the common villain! _

Cid carefully observed his adversary's reaction as he inserted two of his large long fingers into his heated opening to relax the muscle. Rufus angrily bit at the scarf and tried to twist out of Cid's grip. His muscle was constricting Cid's fingers with unusual strength. The captain groaned. _Defiant to the core, aren't we? _Cid didn't hesitate as he pushed in, craving release for his own swelling cock and his raging emotions. He loved rough sex, loved the struggle, and Rufus Shinra, despite the handcuffs and the gag, was again fighting him with every cell of his body. He was enormously strong for his smaller frame and it took all of Cid's power to keep him on his back. Cid had to hold one of his Rufus's legs as well, to prevent him from using his limbs to knock him out cold.

"Submit and stop struggling!" Cid started to push in as boldly and unapologetically as he could. "Just fucking admit it, Shinra, I win, you arrogant SOB!" Rufus's eyes widened as his moist full lips parted in surprise. He tried to open his mouth but the scarf silenced his voice. He winced, moaning slightly, and squeezed his eyes shut. Now he was squirming and trying to evade Cid's cock pushing into him, and his gaze was no longer confident.

"You fucking kidding me?" Cid threw his head back and laughed in sheer exhilaration, as though he was about to fly a fast new ship, "your ass is virgin territory, isn't it?!"

Cid couldn't resist the urge to reach for another cigarette. Fucking Rufus Shinra was like fucking over the entire evil Shinra enterprise, but being the first man ever to cover the arrogant young villain was a whole separate kind of delight. "Well, there's a first damn time for everything, including paying for being such a cold-hearted bastard! This, this is for my Shera!"Cid forced his penis all the way into Rufus without a warning. His anger reached his peak and so did his pleasure levels, as he felt the unmistakable tightness and squeezing of a virgin opening around his large throbbing cock.

His eyes snapped closed as he roared and moaned in pleasure, thrusting in and out like a wild buck.

"Oh YES, fucking YES, Mr. Shinra, revenge is one sweet feeling, I tell'ya!" He was close to tumbling off the orgasmic cliff when he sensed that a change has taken place. Rufus wasn't struggling to counter his movements but moved in sync with Cid's thrusting hips instead. His moist and warm body grew relaxed and pliable beneath the muscular captain and he turned his head away from Cid's dominating stare. His eyelids were fluttering, Cid saw, and he was biting his lover lip so hard that he drew blood. Rufus was desperately trying to deal with the pain and discomfort Cid's penetration has caused, but he was failing and his moist eyes were a proof of that. Cid's rage began to deflate.

_Argh_, _I'm such a big fucking softie on the inside, _Cid told himself as he gently ran his fingers through Rufus's hair. He couldn't stand to see him in pain, no matter how angry he got, no matter how bitter, he hated to see others in pain. And he hated to be the cause of it. _He's still a fucking child. Hurting him won't help, and it isn't what Shera would've wanted._

"Breath slowly, pretty boy. Relax your abs, yes, just breath," he whispered, relaxing his hold on Rufus's wrists. He reached out and untied the silk scarf that sealed the younger man's lips. "Hold on. I know it hurts, I won't-"

"No, wait…" Rufus looked up at Cid with curious admiration, "Don't…don't pull out, Captain. Not yet. I want you to finish what you started. You win. I'm yours." He demonstratively spread his legs and granted Cid a tentative and drunken smile.

Cid lived for two things: sex and flying ships. And just as he could never resist an open door to a ship's cockpit, he could never resist a pair of spread legs. He pushed into Rufus again, this time with greater restraint, but his patience lasted only as long as his new cigarette. Soon he was hollering and hooting again as he thrust into his willing partner harder than he ever remembered doing before. Rufus had a particular type of perverted insatiability some virgins experienced after getting past the initial discomfort and he wanted all the rough sex Captain Highwind was willing to give, which was a whole lot. He allowed Cid to blindfold him, and he didn't ask to have his hands uncuffed. Unlike Vincent, Rufus didn't want feathery kisses and elaborate caressing. He was immature and unsophisticated when it came to sex and he wanted _fucking _in the most vulgar and primitive sense of the word.

"White pubic hair! Wow," Cid exclaimed breathlessly as his large hand pumped Rufus's aroused cock, "do you know how rare that is? Folks say it brings good luck!"

Rufus preferred to fornicate in silence, but Highwind's cock was stroking all the right spots inside his ass and the feeling of being full and caressed from the inside intoxicated him. It was a bit painful still, but it was new, and the intense pleasure building inside made his mind restless. It was a complete overload of senses, too much pleasure delivered too quickly with too much intensity.

"Wait, wait," he gasped, overwhelmed with the buzzing of the nerves all over his body, "it's too much, I-"

When he felt the coming of the release, it wasn't the mild warm feeling he could ignore enough to take a phone call. This time it was a raging wave of pleasure that started at the heels of his feet, burned through his nerves from toes to ears like an explosion, and caused violent convulsion-like shudders of every muscle in his body. Rufus cried out arching his back and sitting up in Cid's rough grip, his voice escaping his lips in rasping cries as his cock spilled creamy-white semen all over the bed. Highwind came inside him just as vocally, ironically remembering his ex-wife.

Sweaty and exhausted, Rufus allowed his body to go limp in Cid's powerful arms. He was never this tired from sex before. His head was spinning from alcohol and fatigue and his immediate desire was to fall asleep. _Losing control can be a very exhausting business, _he thoughtslipping into deep slumber, oblivious to the presence of Vincent and Barett in the room. _But damn it's worth the risk! _


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

Barrett stared at the scene for a moment and burst out laughing.

"Now, that's a whole new approach to fucking over Shinra Inc! But ain't he too young for you, you old fool?!" He shook his head, dismissively waving his good arm. "See Vince, I was right all alone! All the kid needed was a daddy figure to appreciate his talents and man did Cid ever _fulfill_ that need!"

"I'm not THAT old. Shut the hell up," Cid groaned, hiding his relaxed cock back into his pants. "Vince, this isn't a fucking love affair, I hope you understand."

Vincent frowned, as he wasn't particularly amused.

"I must've ran a hundred miles today looking for you," he tried not to sound accusing but he couldn't help showing his annoyance. If Cid couldn't resist screwing someone he claimed to dislike, how likely was it that he would remain faithful to Vincent under other circumstances. _Now I remember why I hate relationships, _Vincent's frown grew deeper, _betrayal is a painful feeling._

"Well, I did say I prefer brunets, didn't I?" Cid was fidgeting with an empty pack of cigarettes as he stole apologetic glances at Vincent. "Hey, he asked for it and he deserved it!" _Yeah, that explains it all. He asked for it. _Vincent folded his arms across his chest, still frowning. "I wonder where that creep Valdi went," Cid changed the subject seeing that he was only digging himself in deeper, "he said he-"

"I doubt he'll be back," Vincent interrupted him as he stepped closer to his lover, examining Cid's face and tracing the outlines of his face with his fingers. Cid caught Vincent's hand and sucked on his fingers, avoiding his lover's gaze. "I shot him," Vincent said, caressing Cid's chin with the metal claws of his armor.

"You fucked'm up?"

"Like hell," Barrett swore, "we musta hit the scoundrel a coupla' times, but he fled like a rat. He's still dangerous. I told my AVALANCH guys it's open season on his ass." Cid nodded, turning his gaze to sleeping Rufus and reaching over to cover the younger man's sensual nude body with a dark sheet of linen.

"What about Mr. Shinra?" he said, inviting Vincent into an embrace.

"Guess you're no longer dying to kill him?" Vincent responded, evading Cid's caresses.

"Take his sorry ass back to daddy," Barrett exclaimed enthusiastically, whipping out a wide brown envelope out of his coat. "Old man Shinra paid a fortune for his release! There's more Gil here than you can count, fool! Valdi dropped it when he was hauling his ass away. There's enough money here to do a whole lotta good for a whole lotta people! Heh, Tifa's gonna be real happy about this one!"

"It's almost morning. I'll take him back," Vincent said, taking a step back from Cid and avoiding the man's apologetic embraces. "I was a Turk once, Tseng and the others trust me. Valdi probably implicated AVALANCH in Rufus's kidnapping, and somebody will have to explain why we had nothing to do with it. Otherwise we'll be in a world of pain once junior wakes up."

"Vince," Cid grabbed his arm, "you don't wanna show up at the Shinra house with Rufus's unconscious body before the asscrack of dawn! His Turk nannies'll be all over you!" Vincent was already struggling to dress Rufus without waking him.

"I'm going." he said firmly. _I need to get out of here. _


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Vincent glanced over at sleeping Rufus as he drove the crimson sports car out of the neon maze of the city and into the darkening woods. Rufus was smiling in his sleep. He looked really young and deceptively innocent with his disheveled blond hair falling over his eyes and his taunt flesh exposed beneath the unbuttoned silk of his black shirt. He looked like he just finished a session of hard fucking.

_Feeling good about screwing my partner? _ Vincent was suddenly tempted to give Rufus a rude awakening by slamming on the brakes just so he can see that pretty head hit the dashboard, but he restrained himself. Petty jealousies weren't in his repertoire of emotions, at least not until this evening. _If Cid walked in on me fucking someone else, he'd punch walls and scream obscenities for years afterwards. But he expected me to allow this, to be OK with this. _Was it bitterness he felt? Vincent shook his head, brooding on the golden ring that fit snugly around his finger. He believed in commitments and for years he slept with no other human being besides Cid, but Cid, well, the captain was another matter. He had to look up monogamy in the dictionary.

Vincent shifted the roaring vehicle into parking mode in front of the Shinra Residence entrance gate. _I can't be like Cid though, _Vincent berated himself for the thousand deviant thoughts that came alive in his mind, _I can't go around fucking other people, can I? _The dying headlights revealed the unmistakable silhouettes of Reno and Rude, waiting, EMRs in attack mode.

"Grand theft auto plus kidnappin', that's a heavy charge to face up, Valentine!" Reno was all purrs and devilish smiles as he appeared next to Vincent the moment he exited the vehicle. The Turk's slender, wiry frame pressed hard against Vincent's chest, his hand lifting the business end of the EMR to rest right under Vincent's chin. Reno was pure energy, he was always hot, always disheveled, and always wanting something so bad he could hardly stand still. He was restless, in the same way horny teenagers are restless, and Reno's buzzing sexuality seriously incited Vincent's imagination. There was no denying it, Vincent found Reno irresistibly attractive and finding himself lodged between the man's aroused body and the car, Vincent had no choice but to admit it with his eyes. Satisfied, Reno released his hold. The Turk demonstratively licked his wet lips and winked at Vincent. "On second thought, maybe we'll cut'ya some slack for-"

"How did he get that bloody nose?" Rude demanded, ushering Rufus out of the passenger seat. "If I find out that one of you assholes raped him….don't deny it Valentine. He smells like sex. I'm a doctor, you know I'll be able to tell-"

Vincent had an uneasy relationship with the bald Turk. Rude symbolized all that the Turks stood for – efficiency, brutality, and endless loyalty to Shinra Inc. Rude was a powerful and frightening man, especially when his impersonal black shades obscured his uncharacteristically kind brown eyes. He was holding half-slumbering Rufus upright as though the younger man was his sick child and in a way Vincent understood the dynamic. Rude was Rufus's personal doctor and bodyguard since Rufus was a young teenager and the bald Turk was fiercely protective of the younger man in a paternal way. Right now Rude was ready to kill. His rock-hard muscles were shifting menacingly beneath his suit and his body language emanated pure testosterone and aggression. He was like a furious bull ready to charge.

"Take him into the house," Rude called out to Reno, forcing half-slumbering Rufus into Reno's arms. "I got business with Mr. Valentine here." He flexed his enormous shoulders, 

cracking his fingers and adjusting his gloves. Reno hesitated. He gave his partner a toothy and blatantly sexual smile and passed Rufus back into Rude's arms.

"You're the medic, partner, so you should check his body for injuries," Reno batted his eyelashes at the larger man, silently asking his partner for a favor, "while Mr. Valentine and I have a talk. You know I'm good at _interrogations_…"

Angry but too preoccupied to pick a fight Rude silently nodded and ushered Rufus into the darkness. Vincent watched the large man vanish into the night and when he turned his head back he found himself staring into the barrel of Reno's gun. The redhead hated firearms, but the slums had taught him exceptional aim.

"Hope you got a good story for me, yo!" Reno's smile was pernicious. "Boss looked like he had a crappy night and you got one hour to convince me that you and your AVALANCH shitheads weren't the cause of his suffering, Valentine." He clicked off the safety switch on the weapon. "Time's running. Start talking, yo!"

Moments later Vincent found himself fighting his way through the bushes as he and Reno made their way to a set of smaller structures used as housing for the household personnel. Rufus hated having too many maids and butlers around and currently most of the little rooms remained unoccupied. Reno became more casual as the conversation progressed. He was satisfied with what he heard and he wanted to move on to other things – like testing Vincent's romantic boundaries.


	16. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

"Does that claw got a vibrator setting?" Reno shoved Vincent against the wall of the staff cabin as soon as the door clicked shut behind them. Taken by surprise, Vincent wasn't sure how to react.

"Shouldn't you be at the house, checking on your boss? Valdi's still out there somewhere. He's dangerous."

Reno didn't respond and he didn't release his hold on Vincent either. He wasn't aggressive in a threatening way, but his gray-green eyes were glistening in the dark and his whole body was tense and really hot. Vincent felt Reno's hardening dick against his leg. The Turk smelled of horniness and something about his demeanor told Vincent that Reno wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Rude has his ways with Rufus, he'll be fine. But I ain't got all night, Valentine," Reno pressed himself against Vincent even closer and leaned in to bring his face so close to Vincent's that their noses touched. Vincent shuddered, as his body begun to betray his outward appearance of control. His cock was tingling and coming to life from Reno's proximity. Pornographic images of Reno naked and on all fours flooded Vincent's mind. He averted his eyes to glance at the golden ring on his finger. _I can't fuck other people like Cid, can I? _

"Hold your fire, Red," Vincent couldn't restrain a playful smile as Reno's quick fingers made their way under his cloak and up to his nipples, tickling and tugging at the sensitive flesh. "I got commitments."

"And I ain't proposing to marry you, you old prude," Reno laughed, licking the tip of Vincent's nose and slowly progressing to tease Vincent's upper lip with his hot quick tongue. "But you're on my menu tonight."

He slipped his exploring tongue into Vincent's mouth. "Besides," he said suggestively, "your AVALANCH friends are on the hook for Rufus's kidnapping and his father is understandably upset." He continued his assault on Vincent's lips, gripping Vincent's neck and forcing his tongue as deep as it would go into the man's mouth. "Who knows what I might tell Tseng and the army generals about your friends' involvement. You don't want them to go down for this, do you?"

"You know as well as I that AVALANCH had nothing to do with Rufus's kidnapping. His father arranged it, and you can't hang it on us!"

Vincent grabbed Reno's jaw with his clawed hand, squeezing the Turk's slender head in boiling anger. "As for Rufus's little sex adventure, whatever he says now, nobody raped him. _It_ was consensual. You hear me, Reno? I would know, I watched your boss fuck my fiancé so hard they almost suffocated each other!"

Vincent exhaled angrily. He pushed Reno away and allowed himself to slide down the wall and onto the floor. He hadn't anticipated his anger getting out of control in the worst of moments.

"Holy hell," Reno laughed as he plopped himself on the floor next to Vincent, "son-of-a-bitch finally did it! You know how long junior's been itching to let someone ride him?"

"Rufus Shinra has the entire world of willing admirers, how come he had to spread his damn legs for the man I intended to marry!" Vincent sighed. "And Cid, the bastard! He loved it, damnit. Every moment of it!"

"You know whatcha problem is Valentine?" Reno extracted a shiny flask from the inner pocket of his suit and took a generous gulp. "You take life too fucking seriously!" He raised the 

flask to Vincent and grinned in the dark. "Broodin' on all sorts of inconsequential shit! Here, have a fucking drink and let's get romantic! I'll make'ya forget all 'bout your captain!"

"I stay away from liquor."

"Bah, lemme give'ya a piece of advice, Valentine! If you and the good captain intent to make this marriage shit last, you gotta loosen up, get in touch with your inner animal." Reno playfully rubbed Vincent's crotch. "Hell, Mr. Shinra never spreads his legs for anybody! That's like watching the red eclipse once in a century. Fuck, if I saw Rude screwing Rufus, I wouldn't be pissed. I'd sit my ass down and let my man do his thing while I jerk off observing. Oh yeah, I'm getting hard just thinkin' about it! Rrrr."

"That's just so delightfully nasty, watching your partner fuck someone else," Vincent contemplated the idea. Growling and hissing, and with Rufus's sweaty legs curled around his waist, Cid looked like a mating tiger. His gorgeous muscular body covered with sweat _was _a sight to behold and it _did_ make Vincent's cock stir.

"Yeah well, getting' nasty is what makes a marriage divorce-proof!" Reno shrugged. "Not that big man and I are hitched officially, but fuck, we might as well be after nine years side by side."

A breaking branch outside instantly made Reno snap out of his amorous mood. _Some asshole's creeping about. _Reno cocked his pistol again. "You heard that?"

Vincent silenced the Turk with an exploring kiss. Reno's lips were soft and tender and they smelled of sweet brandy and cigarettes. Vincent held his lips to Reno's for a moment, testing out the feeling. He still felt a little guilt, but he was painfully hard and sweating and there was no turning back. He fantasized about Reno, in a naughty, secretive way. He pictured the redhead squirming under him. He wanted it for a long time and at the moment there seemed no reason on earth to deny his carnal desire. Vincent's eyes lit up with decisive vigor. He was larger and more powerful than Reno and the younger Turk was in the mood to play along, so Vincent pushed Reno onto his back and climbed on top of him as he removed his cloak. He felt sweat droplets gather at his armpits and lower back. His erection made movement uncomfortable. Reno was still and curious as he observed Vincent's every move, and he was giggling and grinning just like in Vincent's fantasies. Vincent traced the contours of Reno's face with his fingers and then shoved three of them into the redhead's mouth.

"What about your partner?" Vincent watched as Reno took his fingers between his lips and sucked on them with lazy effort. "Big guy's gonna come after me for test-driving your ass?"

"Neah," Reno's eyes were dreamy and rolled half-way into his head. He already managed to drag down his trousers, exposing his swollen cock. "Rude and I have an understanding!" His laughter was drunken and contagious. He was stroking himself and already his quick moving fingers were milking precome from his hardened cock. Vincent's lips trailed a chain of wet kisses down Reno's neck and chest. He was drunk on the man's scent and on his own power to dominate his smaller lover. Vincent was never violent, except when it came to sex.

"On all fours!" he commanded, grabbing Reno by the front of his shirt and flipping him on his stomach. "Ass up, yes, like this. I'll show you an animal!"

"Grrrrr, now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Reno growled when Vincent inserted one of his fingers into Reno's ass. "I ain't a virgin, yo." Reno forced Vincent's finger deeper into his depths. "Common, coward! I know you got more than one finger!"

Vincent stuck his other two fingers into Reno's ass. The muscle was resisting him, but the Turk obviously knew his sex techniques. "Arh! Just fuck me already!" Reno hissed. Vincent tore open his heavy belt and unzipped his pants. He exposed his huge throbbing cock and 

massaged it rhythmically, pumping the stiff flesh in anticipation of penetration. It was already oozing clear precome and Vincent's fingers spread the shiny liquid all over his dick.

"Holy fuck!" Reno gasped, his eyes focused on the size of Vincent's penis, "that thing's the size of Sister Ray cannon!"

"Scared? Because my cannon is in attack mode." Vincent grabbed Reno's long red ponytail and immediately begun to ease into the younger man. He loved the delicious tightness around his dick, the feel of Reno's taunt ass cheeks clamping down on the penetrating member, his powerful muscles milking Vincent's cock. The feel of power was intoxicating. Vincent was moaning and breathing hard. He covered Reno in a mammalian position, leaning over and biting into Reno's neck to keep the redhead in place. Reno moaned when Vincent's fingers formed a tube around Reno's aroused cock and begun to squeeze and release the organ. Vincent started with slow, controlled thrusts that worked every muscle of his body and quickly accelerated his pace. Reno was moaning and clawing at the carpeted floor each time Vincent pushed into him all the way. Reno's back and ass were covered with thin sheen of sweat. His breathing accelerated into uncontrolled gasps.

"Don't…don't…fucking…stop!" He gasped as Vincent continued to thrust into him, turning a little as he entered Reno to ensure his cock continued to hit on the nerve centers inside. Reno was beyond control. He shuddered violently under Vincent. His ass muscles spasmed and his whole body shook as he came with a wave of curses and exclamations. Vincent came almost the exact same moment and with such violence that when the wave of euphoria and ecstasy washed over him he could no longer focus his eyes and had to collapse on the floor next to Reno, trying to catch his breath.

"Now, THAT's what I call good fucking!" Reno was squeezing the last drops of cum from his cock before drying it off with the tablecloth of the nearby table and hiding it back into his trousers. "Yo Valentine, how 'bout you drop your looser AVALANCH cocksuckers and join the Turks again? With a dick like yours, you got excellent prospects at Shinra Inc."


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

Sazar Valdi was dying. He spent the daytime hours bleeding in silence under a splendid blossoming bush with his back to a small staff cabin. But now somebody was in the cabin and he had to go. He was clumsy and heavy on his feet and he broke out of the bush with more noise than he cared to make. Death has finally caught up to him, but it wasn't gonna grab hold of him just yet, not before he got the one that got away. He still smelled the scent of his most handsome victim on his skin. Rufus Shinra had great taste in cologne, and the memory of his silky strawberry blond hair between Sazar's fingers still disturbed the man's mind. He could practically taste his well-groomed skin. _Nobody gets away from me, _he pushed himself to walk on, gripping his rifle. It was too light for his tastes, but it would do the job. He saw the magnolia tree from the distance and instantly fell in love with it. Its position was ideal. It was right across the enormous windows of the Shinra Residence and the windows were alive with light. He climbed the tree like a drunken monkey, took aim, and waited for the right moment he knew would come.

Rufus was not in the mood for niceties. He was pure hormones and pure rage. _My own father paid the red-eyed cannibal to kill me! He knew these monsters scared me and he wanted to make sure I was scared before I died! Cruel bastard….! _Rufus was wide awake and beyond control. As soon as Rude released his gentle hold on his shoulders Rufus proceeded to gulp down enough brandy to make the larger man fear for his life. But he wasn't suicidal. On the contrary, he was ready to take charge of his life and with renewed bloodthirst he was ready to kill his father with his own bare hands. He demanded to see his old man and he strode into the study without bothering to wash up, with his bloodied nose, disheveled hair, and disorderly clothes that revealed his flesh.

"How much did you pay him!" Rufus screamed at his father before the old man, who was dozing off in front of the fire place, had a chance to respond. "Did you pay him extra to scare me and to make me suffer! Answer me, damnit!" He poured more brandy into a fat glass as he positioned himself with his back to the window, glaring at his parent. "My whole life I protected the family honor and you paid a damned cannibal madman to rape and torture me to death!"

"Sir, that window is making me nervous," Tseng said, as he strode into the study after Rufus. "Step away from it. Please, Sir. You're too exposed." Tseng froze, realizing he walked into a warzone.

"You worthless little cocksucker!" The old man Shinra screamed back at his son. "And you," he pointed his finger at Tseng, "are fired!" He turned his attention back to Rufus. "If I knew you were fucking this Wutai tramp bodyguard of yours I would've paid Mr. Valdi extra to take both of you out! You nasty perverts are all over my house cameras, fucking in MY BED! On MY DESK! I should've disowned you years ago!"

"Sir, please get away from the window," Tseng said again. When Rufus ignored him, he stepped between the window and the young President to gently guide him away when, suddenly, the glass in Rufus's hand exploded. He froze in half-sentence and Tseng froze in half motion, forcing the President to the side and silently falling to his knees, coughing blood. Old man Shinra saw his son's eyes widen with surprise and pain. An angry red stain begun to form on his chest. Blood was sipping between his parted lips as he made one step toward his father and then his knees gave out.

Chaos was ensuing around them, as more bullets shuttered the enormous window and knocked over antique vases perched high on their marble pedestals. Rude was ripping Tseng's 

shirt open, steadying him and slapping his cheeks to keep him from fainting. There were phone calls, curses, breaking glass, but the old man Shinra saw nothing around him except his son's blood that was pooling under him. He was on his knees, cradling his son's upper body, as if trying to keep the dark pool from swallowing him up, but blood still made its way onto Rufus's hands and clothes.

"Looks like you got your wish." Rufus was strangely peaceful. His colorless lips curled into a benign smile as blood sipped out of his mouth and ran down his neck.

"Don't…son…don't talk," the old man was stroking his hair. "What am I going to tell your mother?" He was panicking, Rufus saw, panicking because there was more and more blood and no matter where the old man looked the blood was there. Crimson, obvious, and accusing. "I am an old greedy fool," the old man whimpered, his eyes wild and directionless and very guilty, "I paid him, but I never meant it! Not like this! I called him back. I ordered him not to kill you, I couldn't. You're my only child and I….and I… I can't stand you…usually I can't stand you…but damnit I …. I still love you."

"I don't know what love means," Rufus gagged at the metallic taste that overwhelmed his mouth. "The family business is all yours though."

"This is all wrong," the old man whispered, burying his face in his son's mussed blood-streaked tresses. "Without you there is no family! There's no point if I can't give the company to you! Don't…don't close your eyes…don't you dare! I am sorry…"

Elena and Reno, who were just entering the chaotic scene, both stopped in mid-motion to observe what a generation of Midgar residents thought was a biological impossibility: the callous and greedy old man Shinra was shedding real human tears.


	18. Chapter 17

_**Two weeks later…….**_

**CHAPTER 17**

"I miss her, goddamnit! Each time I pour the fucking tea I see her face!" Cid stared at the cup of steaming liquid with disdain as he sucked on his cigarette. "Poor Shera. I hate funerals."

Vincent swirled the bitter liquor in his mouth and swallowed the burning spirit with a sigh. Seventh Haven was closed and its windows were boarded up to keep looters out. Politics was a funny thing. In the minds of many angry AVALANCH members the assassination of Shinra Inc's young President was the foolproof solution to all the world's problems, but as soon as news that Rufus was shot hit the streets, all hell broke loose.

Uncertain of the company's future, Shinra executives ordered all major construction projects suspended indefinitely. Overnight the townsfolk found themselves unemployed and facing another crisis and this time their patience didn't endure. The next morning riots broke out all over Edge and waves of pissed-off citizens looted every supply and grocery store in town.

"He is young and healthy," Vincent said, staring into space, "a shot through the heart is not a death sentence. Reno said it was a small caliber weapon. Shinra's got the best surgeons on the planet and Rufus has nine lives. He is recovering well and the doctors will release a statement this afternoon to quiet the citizenry and worried investors."

"Reno?! When did you become so friendly with the little Turk shithead!" Cid demanded, narrowing his eyes at his lover.

"The same night you and Mr. Shinra had a bonding moment." Vincent didn't have to look at Cid. He practically heard the blonde's blood pressure rising and his knuckles cracking as Cid squeezed the life out of a crunchy loaf of bread. Vincent smiled to himself. _He is so handsome when he's jealous._

"Hey, sorry 'bout that deal with Rufus," Cid said suddenly. "I shoulda thought that through better. Maybe I shoulda just whooped his ass instead. Damn kid got me so worked up I lost my common sense."

"Tell me how it felt when you pushed into his tight virgin ass."

Vincent suddenly turned to face his lover. "I bet he resisted you like crazy at first, right?" He never saw the captain so flustered before and Vincent found the blonde's discomfort incredibly arousing. Vincent's stare was halfway between curious and predatory. He always thought talking dirty was vulgar, but he took Reno's advice about loosening up and he was testing out his playfulness. To his surprise he found that he loved the deviousness of it and he loved the way Cid reacted. "Rufus is a pretty boy, always so well-groomed. So young, so inexperienced, and so horny," Vincent whispered, reaching out to run his fingers down Cid's forearm. "You still get hard thinking about him?"

Cid was sweating like a naughty schoolboy caught masturbating. Vincent couldn't stand it anymore. He shoved Cid off the chair and onto wooden floorboards of the bar.

"Hey, I said I was fucking sorry!" Cid protested, surprised at Vincent's proactive behavior. Usually Cid was the one to initiate sex, but now Vincent was climbing on top of him, kissing his ears and neck, and he wasn't apologetic about interrupting Cid's dinner.

"Tell me how you did it," Vincent whispered into the captain's ear as he playfully tugged at Cid's earring with his teeth. "Then maybe I'll tell you how I did it with Reno."

Cid lay still beneath Vincent, panting and watching his lover. His stare then morphed into a devilish grin. "Well," he said, distracting Vincent's attention by pointing at a random corner. As soon as Vincent looked where Cid was pointing Cid jerked his body upward, shoving Vincent 

off of himself and onto the floor, and immediately climbing on top of him, "first I made sure his hands were restrained, like this!" He grabbed Vincent's wrists and twisted them together and looked around for a usable restraint. Thankfully Vincent's own garment included several thin leather belts that circled his waist at different levels and Cid used one of them to secure his lover's hands in place.

"Very charming," Vincent purred, watching Cid grow more and more excited with this new game. "I didn't tie Reno up. I ordered him to stand on all fours!" Cid covered Vincent's mouth with an aggressive kiss. His lips ground against Vincent's as his tongue continued to assault his lover's heated mouth. His breath smelled like jasmine tea, Vincent noticed, smiling to himself as he found it odd that a man of Cid's size and explosive temper preferred the green brew to hard spirits. Cid was pulling on Vincent's hair, raking his fingers through the silky black mass.

"See, this won't work out quite as well because Rufus was already naked when I started to mess with him. I should've ordered you to undress first." Cid paused above Vincent. He traced the contours of his lover's face with his fingers, as though he was touching him for the first time.

"All right, then, Vincent laughed, I'll do that then."

"Vince," Cid said seriously, refusing to release his hold. "I think Rufus is plenty arousing but I don't want you to re-enact his actions."

"I thought you liked playing dirty," Vincent playfully winked his eye at the captain.

"Oh I do," Cid grinned again, "but I don't think I made it clear before. In the ass-to-ass comparison, you're the official winner. Mr. Shinra gets plenty of credit for extra juicy butt cheeks, but he lacks your sophistication. He is like some fancy liquor you drink when you want to get really fucked up. But you Vince, you're a staple. Like water or green tea. I can't get along without you, partner."

"Look who's too serious now," Vincent eagerly met Cid's lips for another kiss. "Why the look?"

"Shera's funeral reminded me why I have this ring on my finger," Cid shrugged. "I've let war and politics interfere with what matters most. I never had time for her. I WILL make time for you. I want to set a date for the ceremony, Vince. Before Rufus Shinra does anything else to fuck up the planet, before there is more bullshit from separatist rebel tribes, or some other Sephiroth's remnants show up to mess with us. So, will you marry me next week?"

"Yes, yes of course…" Vincent whispered eagerly, "but have you forgotten about the reactors?"

"What goddamned reactors?" Cid exclaimed, annoyed. "Shinra Inc. is resuming operation of two Mako reactors up north. AVALANCH is planning to fuck that show up and I promised Cloud that I-"

"Vincent! That is EXACTLY what I meant when I said fucking politics are getting in the way of life!"

"I will gladly marry you the week following the next," Vincent proposed apologetically.

"No can't do, there's an air show in Wutai and I'm piloting one of the show aircrafts. It's good policy to keep close with those guys. They're our best allies. What about the week after that?"

"Shinra Conference on Alternative Energy Sources," Vincent drew his eyes away, "this is our best chance to present our case for developing fossil fuel fields Barrett discovered. Reeve Tuesti had to kiss a lot of ass to get our guys on the agenda and it looks very promising."

"Vince…I really REALLY do hate politics. But we can't help being involved, can we?"

"No," Vincent gripped Cid's waist with his legs and gently rocked against his lover, feeling the stiffness of Cid's cock through the pants and growing aroused himself. "We can't escape politics because we care too much about our planet, but that doesn't mean we can't play dirty and have rough sex. Right now, in fact, would be a splendid time to begin…"


	19. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18**

Rufus took great pleasure from the guilty smooches his mother lavished on his checks and forehead when he pretended to be unconscious. It was good to see her again. She still looked like an hour glass wrapped in fine satin. Her cream jacket was still tailored perfectly to hold in her luxurious cleavage and her heels were still so high that she hardly felt the ground she walked on. Rufus adored his mother, a glitzy and melodramatic socialite, but he also despised her all the more for abandoning him and he felt perfectly justified in exacting revenge. He took a deep breath and let out a soft, desperate moan, fluttering his closed eyelids and parting his lips in a disturbing imitation of a death spasm. _Damn I'm good!_

Rufus frowned, watching his mother run out of the room covering her mouth and shaking. _Vain bitch. Three years and not one word from you and now suddenly all this emotion!_ He wiggled his toes with an evil smile. The wound barely even hurt anymore, but he wasn't about to make his healing abilities public.

"You really are cold-hearted, Sir." Tseng said accusingly as he entered the hospital suite and settled next to Rufus in bed. "Your mother thought she just watched you die! She nearly collapsed in the hallway!" Tseng shook his head in disapproval. "She really loves you. It's cruel and distasteful to torment her like that!" Rufus narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He knew what he did was immature and mean but he couldn't resist.

"Punish me for it then," Rufus said defiantly and folded his arms under his head. "Lock the door and show me how evil I am!" Rufus stared at his bodyguard with his intense icy eyes. He spread his legs suggestively beneath the covers and winked at Tseng. The Turk frowned.

His own wound still gave him plenty of grief and he thought it pure madness to attempt sex so soon after such a serious injury. _Surely_ _Rufus has better sense than that?_ Tseng leaned in to kiss his superior's forehead. He suddenly wanted to be gentle. _I guess this must be love, _Tseng thought caressing the younger man's neck, kissing his hair and playfully closing his lips around the small silver hoop Rufus wore in his left ear. He curled Rufus's hair around his fingers, watching the dark and light tresses slip through his fingers like liquid white gold.

"You're still one foot in the grave and I won't risk it," he said, planting wet feathery kisses over Rufus's mouth. "I love you too much."

"Love, love," Rufus murmured rolling his eyes, "that irritating little sentiment everyone is talking about." He decided that he didn't really understand love any more than the complex financial statements on his desk. But he understood pleasure, and right now he craved to relive what he felt in that dark filthy room with Captain Highwind. In other words, he wanted to fuck.

"Come on. I don't plan to get over-exerted," Rufus declared, frustrated with Tseng's reluctance. He threw off the thin woolen covers to reveal his naked lower body and his obvious erection. He sat up without much effort and got on all fours. He then firmly gripped the wooden frame facing the door and demonstratively spread his legs again. "I want you to do all the work this time." Tseng's frown grew deeper.

"Sir?"

"I don't like to repeat myself. I said I want you to fuck me."

Tseng froze. Rufus Shinra was at the top of the food chain. He was aggressive, impatient, and took orders from no one. He was the alpha dog in all relationships and his willingness to allow penetration intrigued and deeply flattered Tseng. He quickly tore off his tie and released his thick black hair from its restraint. He still wanted to be gentle and gentlemanly in his caresses, but his dick was too aroused and his urge was too demanding to go slow. He climbed onto the bed with his shoes still on and he coiled his long slender fingers around Rufus's waist as 

he roughly pressed his aroused privates to Rufus's exposed ass. They rubbed against each other like mating animals for a few moments and then Rufus held up a small tube of oily substance the nurses used to lubricate the edges of his healing wound.

"The rougher you are, the bigger your year-end bonus will be," Rufus half-growled and half-giggled leaning back to nuzzle Tseng's neck. He was like a male leopard, slender, graceful, and deadly, and Tseng could not restrain his urge to mate with this beautiful being. He covered Rufus's neck with bites and mounted him with a smug smile. _This is better than a fucking bonus! _ He grabbed Rufus's aroused cock and begun to milk it as he aggressively penetrated his lover. _Fingers. I forgot the fingers to help him relax!_ Rufus was beyond the petty foreplay. He wanted rough sex and he forced Tseng's cock deeper into his ass even though it hurt more than he liked.

Tseng ran his tongue down Rufus's spine. He was still so young, and so inexperienced in the art of sex and Tseng could barely contain his cries of pleasure when his lover's almost painfully tight ass constricted around his aching cock. They begun to move in a rapid rhythm and the bed shook with each thrust. Rufus was smiling but his lips were sealed shut.

He shifted a bit to force the last inch of Tseng's cock into his opening. He loved the feel of Tseng inside him and ironically he felt more in control now than he did with Tseng squirming and moaning under him.

Rufus arched his back under Tseng and gripped the mahogany frame so tightly that his knuckles grew white. Sweat dripped down his forehead and he noticed that his wound was bleeding under the bandages. He felt the pain, deep within his chest, and he knew the whole idea was sheer madness, but he loved the feel of agony mixed with intense pleasure. The wave of ecstasy was coming, just like it did when Cid Highwind was fucking him up the ass for the first time. It started at the heels of his feet, ran up his calves and thighs, and pooled at the pit of his stomach. He gasped and moaned louder and louder until creamy seed begun to spill all over the immaculate white sheets as he came with such force that he nearly fainted.

A shadow entered his field of vision. Rufus looked up just in time to meet his father's furious eyes.


	20. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER 19**

Rufus woke up with a jump, finding himself covered with sweat and hooked up to a new IV. He vaguely recalled the attending doctor inserting the needle into his vein, murmuring something about the wound being disturbed and possibly infected. He passed out soon after and now the mahogany clock on the wall showed 2 AM.

"What the hell is this?" Rufus grimaced as he removed the IV attachment from his arm. "I have to get out of here." He groped around for his cell phone and dialed Tseng's number, impatiently tapping his fingers on the linens. He knew the Turk wouldn't leave him side without a good reason and suddenly speaking to Tseng felt like the most important thing in the world. Rufus felt coldness pool at the bottom of his belly as the rings transitioned into voicemail. _Where could he be at 2 AM? _ It had suddenly occurred to Rufus that the return of his elder placed his and Tseng's lives in danger, the kind he couldn't guard against so easily. His old man ruled Shinra for decades before Rufus took over and there was no way to really know who was still loyal to the elder. Every doctor, every senior Turk, every soldier, they were all suspect. And if the elder Shinra really disapproved of Rufus's relationship with Tseng, how easy it would be for him to forcefully end the affair with Tseng paying the ultimate price for his forbidden affection.

"Don't bother calling him. He won't answer. He is unconscious, I am quite certain."

Rufus felt the chill on the back of his neck when he heard the unmistakable voice. His father sat motionless in the armchair opposite the bed. His cigar's burning end glowed like a red eye in the darkness. Rufus squinted to see his father's face because he doubted his eyes were not deceiving him. He had blocked the idea that his old man was still alive out of his mind and until today he hasn't confronted that knowledge in his own head.

The old man Shinra looked very little like his former self. Rufus remembered his father as a fat and slimy sack of money driven only by greed and insatiable lust. He was vulgar, loud, and perverted in his sexual habits, and he commanded nothing but contempt. The slender and deadly man who stood before him now was a different beast altogether. This was the disciplined and genius entrepreneur who transformed Shinra from a weapons-manufacturer to an entity that operated the world. The father that stood before him now was the man Rufus _feared_. Elder Shinra had a look in his steel grey eyes that made Rufus's skin crawl. The man settled next to his son in bed and watched Rufus for a long moment, puffing smoke from his cigar and thinking.

"You almost fooled me into feeling sorry for you," he said finally, shaking his head. "Last time I cried was a half century ago, when I was seven and my cat died." Rufus sat up and stared at his old man with unmasked hatred.

"It's good to know I'm as valuable to you as a cat!"

"I don't know what disturbs me more about you Rufus, your constant self-pity, your meanness, or your nasty habit of jerking off day and night. I spoiled you," said the elder man as he intently examined his son. "Spoiled you rotten."

"You were a horrible father!" Rufus spat in disgust. "I was never as happy as I was the day General Sephiroth skewered you like a hog!"

"And you were a horrible son!" the old man said calmly and blew smoke at Rufus, knowing it would irritate him. "Listening to you one might think I was a heartless despot! In truth I couldn't buy you what you wanted fast enough! Remember the real sports car for your eighth birthday! Or how you whined about wanting a kitten and I had Black Nation specially bred for you? Or the time your adolescent dick begun to mess with your head and I brought you best flesh from the Wall Market so you can relieve your hormonal urges? I even indulged your 

ego when you wanted to be a Vice President! Everything you wanted I handed you on a damn plate and it still wasn't enough."

"That's not true and you know it!" Rufus bristled, annoyed at how much pain he felt. "It…it wasn't like that!"

"Then how _was _it, son?" The elder stared intently at Rufus. "If I was your biggest problem, why didn't your sorry ass thrive after my 'death?' I watched the bedroom surveillance tapes, you pathetic looser! I know you never go to bed sober. What's the matter, boy? You finally got to rule the whole world and it still wasn't enough?"

Rufus opened his mouth to respond but he had nothing to say. He remembered how his initial exuberance about becoming President quickly turned to frustration and regret.

"No," he said quietly, rubbing his face and suddenly feeling exhausted. "In truth I only wanted to be President so that you would notice something about me other than my flaws."

"Oh cry me a river, junior. You want out?" the elder Shinra was genuinely curious. "Just say the words. Your old lady's still young enough to breed me another kid. I won't chain you to the desk if you don't have what it takes to run the family business!"

"You're right! I don't have what it takes!" Rufus screamed defiantly. "On a good day all I want is to fuck Tseng in my office and on a bad day I often feel like setting the whole fucking enterprise on fire!"

The old man Shinra stared at Rufus for a long moment and began to laugh. He laughed so hard that the corners of his eyes grew moist. Rufus never saw his father show this much merriment and he sat quietly, unsure how to react.

"Ahhh, love is a funny thing," the elder Shinra chuckled, catching his breath, "that is word for word what I told my old man when he caught your mother and I fucking in the closet, back when I was your age and Shinra was still a weapons manufacturer! Couldn't get enough of that woman! You two poor bastards really have it bad for each other, don't you? Don't answer that. I saw Tseng fuck you before my very eyes." He shook his head. "And I hate it."

The elder man stood up and extracted another cigar from the breast pocket of his vest.

"Your grandfather would have shot both of you fuckers dead on the spot," he said, turning cold and serious again. "Male partnerships are bad for business because they don't produce heirs and I very much intend to keep Shinra in the family, if you get my drift."

Rufus was blushing from anger and he hated his helplessness. He wanted to lunge at the old man and punch him with all the strength his emotion had given him but the medication has made him lethargic and unsteady and all he could do was to sit and stare.

"But I had some time to rethink my approach to life while I lay paralyzed and unable to speak for three years. Maybe trying to control your every move isn't the best idea. You are my son. My only son. And I've invested too much into you to kill you over this. But your lover-"

"You will NOT touch him!" Rufus growled. "This is between you and I!"

"Oh I wouldn't," the elder man laughed viciously, "I'm dead. A ghost. Remember? But my men might."

The elder Shinra approached Rufus with the predatory stare Rufus feared worse than death as a child because it signaled violence. He instinctively tensed up when his father grabbed his chin with his large hand and glared into his eyes. His cold fingers were painfully crushing Rufus's jaw.

"I'm damn tired of waging war against your bad habits Rufus, so if you're determined to spread your legs for your own bodyguards, be my guest, but if the media ever catches wind of this, I will have you and that Wutaian weasel Tseng castrated and killed. Do we have an 

understanding?" the elder man kissed Rufus's forehead and shoved his son back on the pillow. "Masturbate some to relax and get some rest. You _will _be back at work tomorrow. Your mother and I are clearing out of this fucking town before the media rats catch wind that I really am alive. I've come to enjoy my retirement, you see, and I want to continue enjoying it in anonymity. But old loyalties die hard, boy. My spies are watching you and your every move. I smell that you're fixing to take me out, I'll make sure you die screaming in pain. Got me? Have a good night."

"You're leaving Shinra under my control?!" Rufus couldn't contain his gleeful smile.

"Taken individually Tseng is just a half-breed watch-dog and you're a spoiled vain brat, but together you are incredibly efficient. The company is set to make a fortune because of your joint efforts, so I'm willing to tolerate your love affair in light of all the Gil it will produce. As long as you keep depositing Gil into family accounts Rufus, hell, you'll keep making me proud! The more Gil the more pride!" The old man released a cloud of smoke in Rufus's direction."So GET RID of all the perverted old ass-kissers that keep swarming around you. They are not your fathers, I am, and I am telling you that the people will give you all the power you want if you take care of them. So put all the cocky generals back in their place and fix the goddamned roads. _I_ have confidence in you, son."

"Really?" Rufus wasn't believing his ears. He sat up to examine his father before allowing the little boy inside to grin. The old man was smirking in his usual arrogant way.

"No," he said matter-of-factly as he winked at Rufus. "Not really." Rufus groaned and fell back on the pillow.

"I hate you, old man," Rufus smiled contently, hearing the door slam shut. For the first time in his life the little boy in him was satisfied and proud. Tomorrow he will be furious at the prospect that he now has to account for his father's continued existence each time he makes a decision. He will be frustrated with financial statements and never-ending warfare with AVALANCH. He will have to worry about the public opinion and public image. But tonight it didn't matter because he had finally gotten the approval of the only man that mattered to him.


	21. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER 20**

"Holy hell, boss, you trying to kill yourself?" Reno rushed into the enormous bathroom when he saw Tseng sitting on the marble floor with his upper body slumped over the ornate bathtub. Reno came to the Shinra Residence after Tseng's urgent text message, and he was unpleasantly surprised to find the Residence silent and abandoned, except for a few guards at the front door. He quickly checked all the rooms before coming to Tseng's suite.

"No," said Tseng, sitting up and rubbing his bloody forehead. He had a gush on the skin right below the hairline that bled down his face. He was a hopeless mess. He wore no shoes and no jacket and his dress shirt was unbuttoned and clinging to his skin. His long black hair was wet too and the silken strands hung down in uneven waves. "But someone else certainly was."

Tseng accepted Reno's hand and tried to get up but his legs were numb from sitting and he collapsed into Reno's embrace. Their closeness was electric and awkward. Tseng still seemed a bit dazed and Reno was unsure how to interpret his lingering on top of the younger Turk.

"Why are you here anyway, I told you to check on President Shinra," Tseng finally said as he pushed off of Reno.

"Now you have to specify if you mean junior or the old man," Reno shrugged, reaching for a fluffy burgundy towel. "I send Rude to check on the 'baby,' and I came here, in case-"

"Don't bother," Tseng took the towel from Reno's hand and begun to lazily massage his wet hair with the fuzzy fabric. "We still have only one President. Old bastard cleared out of here last night."

"And what happened to you?" Reno was skeptical. He saw the bathtub was halfway full and the rug next to it was soaked with standing water. There was blood on the rug, and on the inside of the tub. "Relaxing bath gone wrong?"

"Old man Shinra didn't take too kindly to my becoming his son-in-law at first," Tseng smirked, leaning against the wall in exhaustion. "He gave me a concussion with a scotch bottle and then he asked me a few about where my loyalty was. I am from Wutai, you know, and it is still a hostile nation."

"You're shitting me!" the redhead exclaimed. "He interrogated you? Boss controlled drowning is bad news, it can starve your brain for oxygen, can fuck you up real bad! Let's get you to the hospital Tseng, have a nerve doc check you out."

"I'm fine, thank you." Tseng allowed Reno to haul him up by the waist. They stood there, with Tseng leaning against the wall and Reno leaning against Tseng, his strong hands gripping the senior Turk. "He didn't injure me. That wasn't his intent. Believe me he easily could have."

"I don't like this," Reno ran a nervous hand through his messy red hair. "It's like the old man's been reborn and I don't like this new version of him one fucking bit. He was a slime bag before, now he's actually dangerous."

"It doesn't matter now, he's gone." Tseng said, smoothing his hair away from his face.

"He's dangerous, boss." Reno repeated. "We have to track him down and settle this for good."

Tseng grabbed Reno's hand and pulled the redhead closer to where their faces were practically touching each other. Their bodies joined into one and Tseng's soft cheek brushed against Reno's ear.

"Do not EVER again mention his name. Or that he is alive. Or that we should pursue him. As far as the world is concerned the old man Shinra died back in Midgar. As far as I am concerned my new father-in-law had a brain injury that turned him back into the psychopath he was in his youth. He promised he'd make me watch all of you Turks die an ugly death if he finds 

out that we are plotting to kill him. And he does have spies everywhere. So let it be. As the future leader of the Turks you have to know when to abandon the chase." Reno gasped.

"You're stepping down, boss? How come?"

"The transition won't happen for a while, but I am being promoted. As I said the old man didn't want to kill me," Tseng shrugged, smiling mysteriously. "Controlled drowning was just his way of interviewing me for the Vice President's position and making sure I didn't bullshit him. I promised him Gil. Lots and lots of Gil. And the old man liked what he heard. I'm getting a promotion to VP and you will NOT fuck it up for me!"

"What a kiss-ass!" Reno's grin grew wide and happy. "So you get the boy and the money, huh?"

"Hey, I am an ambitious man," Tseng said smugly, drying his hair. "Besides, I love the boy."


End file.
